"Robert Lederman" <robert.lederman@worldnet.att.net>
Hey, what a surprise. the most corrupt President (Bush) is linked to the most corrupt corporation (Enron) which is financed by the Rockefeller's two main banking groups (JP Morgan/Chase and Citigroup). Bush gets all his ideas (as does Giuliani) from Chase Banks' Manhattan Institute, founded by CIA director William Casey... who funded, armed and trained bin Laden and the Afghan terrorists we are fighting. Ken Lay, Enron CEO and Bush’s top contributor is a member of David Rockefeller’s Trilateral Commission. It's a small world after all!
See http://baltech.org/lederman/ for details on the Chase/Bush/Nazi/CIA connection behind much of modern US history. None of these connections are allowed to be reported on in US newspapers. For example, name one paper since 9/11 that has reported that David Rockefeller built the WTC. Too unimportant a detail to mention? -Robert Lederman
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London Financial Times
Editorial comment: Enron and the role of the banks
Published: January 16 2002 20:34 | Last Updated: January 16 2002 20:38
"The more that is learnt about the collapse of Enron, the wider the ramifications become. Failures in the audit process and the vulnerability of many employees' pensions have now been joined by concerns over the actions of the banks. The Enron debacle has highlighted fundamental weaknesses in the US system of financial regulation, which has failed to keep pace with changes in the industry.
The latest concern centres on the role of JP Morgan Chase, one of Enron's two main bankers. It was involved in an offshore company used by the energy trader to move risk off its balance sheet. The disclosure of the existence of such off-balance-sheet arrangements accelerated the downward spiral in the company's share price and led to its eventual bankruptcy.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is now investigating whether JP Morgan has also misled its shareholders by making loans to Enron in the form of oil and gas trading contracts. Insurers who face a claim from the bank on surety bonds that guaranteed the contracts allege that they were loans dressed up as trades to keep them off the bank's balance sheet. JP Morgan has already revised its estimate of its Enron exposure from $900m to $2.6bn (£620m to £1.8bn.)The SEC probe is adding to the criticism of risk control procedures at the bank, formed in 2000 by the merger of Chase Manhattan with the venerable House of Morgan.
JP Morgan and Enron's other lead bank, Citigroup, are the largest of a new generation of banking groups formed by combining commercial banks and investment banks to provide a one-stop shop for big corporate clients. The theory is that companies will give the lucrative investment banking mandates for mergers and acquisitions advice, share issues and bond finance to the banks that put loans on the table.
Enron was, until the past few weeks, the sort of case study used to justify the creation of investment banks with big balance sheets. By being prepared to make hefty loans to Enron, Citigroup and JP Morgan beat less well endowed competitors in last year's race to advise it on restructuring and refinancing options. They worked hard - unsuccessfully - to persuade the credit rating agencies not to downgrade Enron.
That they are able to do both investment banking and commercial banking is a consequence of the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act that had separated the two since the 1930s. It was meant to stop conflicts of interest that had contributed to the Great Crash of 1929 but proved increasingly unworkable as commercial banking, investment banking and the insurance industry converged.
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that repealed the old legislation in 1999 did nothing to rationalise financial regulation, however. The old regulators continued to do their work - the SEC as securities industry watchdog, the Federal Reserve on banking and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on derivatives. The result is that no single regulator has an overall view of large financial conglomerates, leaving them free to organise their businesses in ways that have consequences for clients as well as investors. The weaknesses of this approach will have to be dealt with when the dust has settled around Enron."
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Check out Citigroup’s board of directors
From : http://www.responsiblelending.org/citidir.htm
Citigroup, Inc. Board of Directors
C. Michael Armstrong, Chairman and CEO, AT&T
AT&T, 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013 tel 212-387-5400
Alain J. P. Belda, President and CEO, Alcoa
Alcoa, 201 Isabella Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212 tel 412-553-4545
Kenneth J. Bialkin, Partner, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Four Times Square, New York, NY 10036 tel 212-735-2130 fax 212-735-2000 kbialkin@skadden.com
Kenneth T. Derr, Chairman and CEO (retired), Chevron
Chevron, 575 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
John M. Deutch, Professor, M.I.T.; former Director of CIA
M.I.T. Dept. of Chemistry, Room 6-208, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA
02139, tel. 617-253-1479 fax 617-258-5700 jmd@mit.edu
Ann Dibble Jordan, Consultant
2940 Benton Place, Washington, DC 20008
Robert I. Lipp, Citigroup
Citigroup Inc., 399 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10043 tel 212-559-1000
Reuben Mark, Chairman and CEO, Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive, 300 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022 tel 212-310-2000
Michael T. Masin, President and Vice Chairman, Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications, 1095 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036 tel 212-395-2121
Dudley C. Mecum, Managing Director, Capricorn Holdings
33 Khakum Wood Road, Greenwich, CT 06831
Richard D. Parsons, President, Time Warner
Time Warner, 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019 tel 212-484-8000
Andrall E. Pearson, Chairman and CEO, Tricon Global Restaurants
Tricon Global Restaurants, 1441 Gardiner Lane, Louisville, KY 40213
Tel. 502-874-8300
Robert E. Rubin, Chairman of Executive Committee, Citigroup
Citigroup Inc., 399 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10043 tel 212-559-1000
Franklin A. Thomas, former President, Ford Foundation
TFF Study Group, 595 Madison Avenue, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10022
tel: 212-753-3200, fax: 212-753-6703, email f.thomas@tffsg.org
Sanford I. Weill, Chairman and CEO, Citigroup
Citigroup Inc., 399 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10043 tel 212-559-1000
Arthur Zankel, General Partner, Zankel Capital Advisors
20 E. 68th Street, New York, NY 10021 212-734-4173
Gerald R. Ford, former President of United States
P.O. Box 927, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
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