Banker suicides Return?

After a lull, two reported this week. One with ties to Dominique Strauss Kahn and the other with ties to the Deutsche bank libor scandal. They are # 16 and 17 for the year.

This summer, thankfully, has been largely bereft of the dismal trend of bankers committing suicide, but as Bloomberg reports, Thierry Leyne, a French-Israeli banker and partner of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced former chief of the IMF, was found dead Thursday after apparently taking his own life by jumping off the 23rd floor of one of the Yoo towers, a prestigious residential complex in Tel Aviv. This is the 16th financial services executive death this year.

Another "jumper" - two or three earlier JPMorgan suicides were building jumps.

www.zerohedge.com...

And the Deutsche Bank "banker" hanged himself on Monday -

A prominent Deutsche Bank executive’s Manhattan death has been ruled a suicide, a spokeswoman for New York City’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner said late Friday. The hanging death of Calogero Gambino, 41, a Deutsche lawyer and managing director, was discovered by his wife on Monday morning. Gambino was found hanging by the neck from a stairway banister in their Manhattan home, according to police reports.

Gambino, an 11-year bank executive, was working with US regulators probing Deutsche’s involvement in Libor rigging scandal, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Deutsche and six other banks were fined by European regulators late last year for rigging the benchmark London interbank offered rate, Libor, used globally to set lending interest rates.

nypost.com...

Also interesting that both Deutsche bank guys died by hanging.

Earlier this year, former Deutsche Bank Senior Managing Director William Broeksmit, who had close ties to co-CEO Anshu Jain, was found by his wife hanged in his South Kensington, London home.

List is at the link.

I'm not sure what to think - the pool these guys swim in is obviously very dirty - could be it just got to them or something more? The Deutsche bank guy was apparently working with the authorities - so that raises suspicions. And the other guy was associated with DSK, who, IMHO, oozes evil.

What do you all think?

a reply to: Maluhia

Something wicked this way comes. ;p Who knows, maybe they decided to punish themselves for their own crimes?

Suspicions of murder lurk.

Somebody is pressing the buttons that control the microchips embedded in these people.

The drama is intriguing.

When you are trapped between two massive entities - a multi-national bank as your employer on one side and the justice system on the other, your work and personal life is frozen while the two grind it out, that is going to suck the energy out of your soul.

There's no escape from that situation in this material world.

I can't help but notice these are all just as easily murders that can look like suicides...

a reply to: stormcell

When you are trapped between two massive entities - a multi-national bank as your employer on one side and the justice system on the other, your work and personal life is frozen while the two grind it out, that is going to suck the energy out of your soul.

If you have a soul, yes. If Leyne did, why partner with DSK? He was relatively successful without him.

About DSK -

He has helped the government of South Sudan set up a bank, and he advised the Serbian government on economic issues. He also sits on the board of two big Russian financial institutions.

Serbia recently received approval to start negotiations to enter the European Union and has been seeking to rehabilitate its international image in the aftermath of the bloody Balkan wars of the 1990s. That has prompted some Serbian analysts to question why a country in need of rebranding has hired a disgraced figure who himself would seem to be seeking international rehabilitation.

Help me out here - Serbia and the EU...Ukraine and the EU? Russian connections....Did Leyne figure it out?

Sometimes I feel like jumping myself. Then again, I know that's what they want.

a reply to: Puppylove

Yep, here's one that really clinched it - suicide by nail gun, Richard Talley -

The Arapahoe County coroner's office said Talley shot himself in the chest seven times with 2½ -inch finish nails from a nail gun before firing a fatal nail into his head. Police found him dressed for work, sitting in his car in the garage and with the motor running.

How is this even possible? so many have asked.

www.zerohedge.com...

The EU banks are undergoing stess tests, 25 banks are not going to pass these...
Maybe this plays a factor ???

Bank run for me on monday

I was just thinking the other day about the "suicides" from earlier in the year and how they seemed to drop off the radar.

It's obviously connected to something... I just wish I knew what's going on.

Kind of like a while back when all the bio warfare slash virologists died around the world too...remember thatÉ
Was that the precursor to the ebola trip,or D68 or Marburg....maybe these deaths preceed the big crash....

This Dutc h site , who also uses zerohedge as a source, is counting 31 in a larger perspective :

1) David Bird, 55, long-time reporter for the Wall Street Journal working at the Dow Jones news room
2) Tim Dickenson, a U.K.-based communications director at Swiss Re AG
3) William Broeksmit, 58, former senior manager for Deutsche Bank
4) Ryan Henry Crane, age 37, JP Morgan
5) Li Junjie, 33, Hong Kong JP Morgan
6) Gabriel Magee, 39, age JP Morgan employee
7) Mike Dueker, 50, who had worked for Russell Investments
8) Richard Talley, 57, was the founder and CEO of American Title (real estate titles)
9) James Stuart Jr. 70, Former National Bank of Commerce CEO was found dead in Scottsdale, Ariz
10) Jason Alan Salais, 34 year old IT Specialist at JPMorgan since 2008
11) Autumn Radtke, 28, CEO of First Meta, a Singapore-based virtual currency trading platform
12) Eddie Reilly, 47, investment banker, Vertical Group, New York
13) Kenneth Ballando, 28, investment banker, Levy Capital, New york
14) Joseph A. Giampapa, 55, corporate bankruptcy lawyer, JP Morgan Chase
15) Jan Peter Schmittmann, 57, voormalig topbestuurder ANB/AMRO, Laren, Nederland
16) Juergen Frick, 48, CEO Bank Frick & Co AG, Liechtenstein
17) Benoît Philippens, 37, directeur BNP Parisbas Fortis Bank, Ans, België.
18) Lydia…, 52, bankier Bred-Banque-Populaire, Parijs
19) Andrew Jarzyk, 27, bankier, PNC Bank, New York
20) Carlos Six, 61, Hoofd Belastingdienst en lid CREDAF, België
21) Jan Winkelhuijzen, 75, Commissaris en Fiscalist (voormalig Deloitte), Nederland.
22) Richard Rockefeller, 66, achterkleinzoon elitebankier John D. Rockefeller, Amerika
23) Mahafarid Amir Khosravi (Amir Mansour Aria), 45, bankeigenaar, zakenman en derivatenhandelaar, Iran
24) Lewis Katz, 76, zakenman, advocaat en insider in de bancaire wereld, Amerika
25) Julian Knott, Directeur Global Operations Center JP Morgan, 45, Amerika
26) Richard Gravino, IT Specialist JP Morgan, 49, Amerika
27) Thomas James Schenkman, Managing Director Global Infrastructure JP Morgan, 42, Amerika
28) Nicholas Valtz, 39, Managing Director Goldman Sachs, New York, Amerika
29) Therese Brouwer, 50, Managing Director ING, Nederland
30) Tod Robert Edward, 51, Vice President M & T Bank, Amerika
31) Thierry Leyne, 48, investeringsbankier en eigenaar Anatevka S.A., Israël

a reply to: webstra

Wow, thanks for that list. Did they confirm that reporter David Bird did in fact die? Last I heard he was missing, but not much after that, which is weird in itself because missing people are usually big news here in the New York area.

a reply to: Maluhia

Hmmm
must be something in their coffee, making them a bit....Jumpy

This subject fascinates me, for what reason I don't yet know. I suppose part being how successful people could throw it all away when some of us less fortunate would love to have the financial security. Gotta be something more to it a deeper meaning or cause.

Just found this info. Apparently metals manipulation and derivative exposure could spell trouble for Deutsche in the coming weeks.

Clearly Deutsche Bank is slowly becoming Europe's own JPMorgan - a criminal bank whose past is finally catching up to it, and where legal fine after legal fine are only now starting to slam the banking behemoth. We will find out just what the nature of the latest litigation charge is next week when Deutsche Bank reports, but one thing is clear: in addition to mortgage, Libor and FX settlements, one should also add gold.

Recall from around the time when the first DB banker hung himself: it was then that Elke Koenig, the president of Germany's top financial regulator, Bafin, said that in addition to currency rates, manipulation of precious metals "is worse than the Libor-rigging scandal."

It remains to be seen if Calogero's death was also related to precious metals rigging although it certainly would not be surprising. What is surprising, is that slowly things are starting to fall apart at the one bank which as we won't tire of highlighting, has a bigger pyramid of notional derivatives on its balance sheet than even JPMorgan, amounting to 20 times more than the GDP of Germany itself, and where if any internal investigation ever goes to the very top, then Europe itself, and thus the world, would be in jeopardy.

www.zerohedge.com...

We know what happened with Libor. The traders in the banks would asked the Libor rate managers if they could "fix" the rate until a particular time or at a particular value while they did a trade.

Now imagine those executives now have some very wealthy people who don't want to be implicated or involved in any investigation on one side, and the judicial system investigators who are going to throw the book at anyone who doesn't spill the beans ....

I'm getting a little agitated at the media focusing on banker/trader suicides. Looking at a much bigger picture shows a massive world-wide problem.

Suicide takes the lives of nearly 30,000 Americans every year.

Many who attempt suicide never seek professional care.

There are twice as many deaths due to suicide than HIV/AIDS.

Approx 30,000 Americans go by way of suicide every year. The financial sector is a large percentile of the population, about 6% which equals on a rough calculation about 1800 of those suicides. 1800 per year from the finance sector.
It's massive, but only a small number of those are making the news and the ones that are (suicide) are in mostly finance. It's not balanced, nor fair and plays on people worries and creates uncertainty in a already wonky/fear based economy. What about the other 28,200 suicides? Let's shine light on the shoulders of those driven to take their own lives and give them support and help, not to sell papers and create an atmosphere.

In 2004, 32,439 people died by suicide. (CDC)

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S. (homicide is 15th). (CDC)

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-old Americans. (CDC)

It is estimated that there are at least 4.5 million survivors in this country. (AAS)

An average of one person dies by suicide every 16.2 minutes. (CDC, AAS)

There are four male suicides for every female suicide. (CDC, AAS)

Link for Source

Even if only 0.5% of the 30,000 suicidal deaths are people involved in finance, that's still 150 people per year. It's a media created frenzy for some reason we will probably never know. We barely here of any, in truth there's probably a finance related death via suicide every day. There are also thousands of suicides in other sectors as well and this focusing on finance is really giving me anger at all the help suicide victims in need of help, but the media is uses it to sell papers and an agenda. Makes me sick.


A quick look at that list of names shows a common factor.
Testosterone.
Testosterone is a massive factor in risk-taking activities.
Why are most of the top business people men? Because they are willing to take big risks for the outcome of big rewards. (Not saying it's not possible for a woman in these sectors, but there is less desire amongst women to be in this field). But these bankers with testosterone coursing through their veins don't always win.... Feel like a Mr. Big Man? Nothing puts men in a downer like a failure to produce results.

I don't feel that these banker deaths are anything more sinister other than what they are, stressed out guys who've had enough of risky life in finance. Suicide is a huge problem, we should be better equipping ourselves to notice the signs especially in high stress industries and step in and offer them a way out without banker mates saying typical high testosterone retorts like "what a massive soft ##@#" and putting those down who are in times of struggle. I honestly feel people (manly men in particular) just don't seem to be able to help it, it gives them a mental release of endorphins making them feel better/stronger/more successful.

Anyway, that's my views on all this. If you have guys in stressful industries, keep an eye on them for changes in behaviour.

a reply to: Qumulys

Didn't mean to strike a nerve with you. This wasn't meant to be a statement on suicide or the media's handling of it - if anything the media has been relatively silent on the issue of banking suicides. No doubt that suicide is awful for the families and friends involved. Whenever I hear of one I always think, if only someone had been able to reach them...how can things get so bad that you see no other options?

I posted this to shed light on the fact that what these guys are involved in is often shady at best and maybe that gets to some of them, or maybe, some of these deaths are deemed suicide when they should probably be looked at otherwise.

a reply to: Maluhia

Sorry if I came across as upset! Not my intention either. This was probably more directed as of about 6 months ago, which at the time the media were making quite a bit of noise about it. Sadly, it seemed to have created this (non)situation of "why are the bankers killing themselves" as if there were some underlying conspiracy.
I'm sure wives and loved ones get a coroner to look into why hubby has died, so I'd tend to (perhaps naively) that most of the suicides are just that - a normal occurrence in a high stress job as far as research suggests.

I agree wholeheartedly with you that most of these guys were likely involved in some kind of shady business dealings. A little bit of of a business whisper here and there can lead to massive amounts of money being pushed around like chips at a roulette table. It is probably right up there with other high stress workplaces that lead to elevated suicide rates.

Lets have a quick look.
19) Natural scientists are 1.28 times more likely to commit suicide than average.
18) Pharmacists are 1.29 times more likely to commit suicide.
17) Precision woodworkers are 1.3 times more likely to commit suicide.
16) Electricians are 1.31 times more likely to commit suicide.
15) Heat treating equipment operators are 1.32 times more likely to commit suicide.
14) Farm managers are 1.32 times more likely to commit suicide.
13) Lathe operators are 1.33 times more likely to commit suicide.
12) Lawyers are 1.33 times more likely to commit suicide.
11) Electrical equipment assemblers are 1.36 times more likely to commit suicide.
10) Real estate sellers are 1.38 times more likely to commit suicide than average.
9) Hand molders are 1.39 times more likely to commit suicide.
8) Urban planners are 1.43 times more likely to commit suicide.
7) Supervisors of heavy construction equipment are 1.46 times more likely to commit suicide.
6) Chiropractors are 1.5 times more likely to commit suicide than average.
5) Finance workers are 1.51 times more likely to commit suicide.
4) Veterinarians are 1.54 times more likely to commit suicide
3) Dentists are 1.67 times more likely to commit suicide.
2) Physicians are 1.87 times more likely to commit suicide.
1) Marine engineers are 1.89 times more likely to commit suicide.

Source BI via CDC numbers
Further Source