World-News

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/497.html

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Investors Remain Amazed Over Madoff's Sudden Downfall

David Lieberman, Pallavi Gogoi, Theresa Howard, Kevin McCoy and Matt Krantz, USA Today: "The financial world begins this week still in a daze over the spectacular collapse of an alleged Ponzi scheme by onetime Wall Street legend Bernard Madoff - possibly the biggest swindle ever committed by a single person."

http://www.truthout.org/121508M

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Banks Hit Worldwide by U.S Fraud

news.bbc.co.uk — Some of the world's biggest banks have revealed that they are victims of a fraud which has lost $50 billion. Bernard Madoff has been charged with fraud in what is being described as one of the biggest-ever such cases. Mr. Madoff founded Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in 1960, but also ran a separate hedge fund business. According to the U.S. Attorney's criminal complaint filed in court, Mr. Madoff told at least three employees on that the hedge fund business — which served up to 25 clients and had $17.1 billion under management — was a fraud and had been insolvent for years. He said that it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme", the complaint said.

http://ga3.org/ct/m720pgF1dYku/



SEC Under Fire Over Fraud

ft.com — The failure to detect what could be the world's biggest fraud allegedly perpetrated by long-time investment adviser Bernard Madoff has raised fresh questions about the capabilities of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. markets watchdog. It is also yet another black mark on the U.S. regulatory regime, which has come under criticism during the financial crisis as numerous gaps and oversight weakness have been exposed. The alleged fraud pointed to "a systemic failure" and raised "fundamental questions" about the regulatory structure in the U.S., Bramdean Alternatives, a UK investment fund which invested with Mr. Madoff, said in a statement over the weekend.

http://ga3.org/ct/U120pgF1dYkh/

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From Paris to Tokyo, more Madoff victims emerge

BNP Paribas, the biggest French bank, said Sunday that it has as much as €350 million, or $472 million, at risk from Madoff's investment advisory business. Nomura Holdings of Japan has ¥27.5 billion, or $302 million, at risk from Madoff's funds, while Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria of Spain may face up to €300 million in losses.

http://tinyurl.com/5uduls



Faber Report: Madoff

CNBC's Davif Faber reports on the $50 billion Ponzi scheme run by ex-NASDAQ chairman Bernard L. Madoff.

http://tinyurl.com/5aa44u



Report: Elie Wiesel, Steven Spielberg among victims of Madoff affair

An alleged $50 billion fraud by Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff has caused deep ripples in the Jewish philanthropic world, forcing the closure of two prominent U.S.-based charities and threatening the financial lifeline of a slew of other groups.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1046916.html


From Information Clearing House

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Madoff scam saps confidence in Wall Street

Christian Science Monitor

12/16/08

Just what the financial markets don’t need: another scandal. With confidence already shaky, sophisticated investors ranging from suave Spanish bankers to Palm Beach retirees have lost billions of dollars in what is one of the biggest scandal to ever rock the investment world. Law enforcement officials are still trying to figure out what happened to some $50 billion run by Bernard Madoff, who was arrested last week. It appears he was operating an old-fashioned Ponzi scheme, one of those arrangements where new investors finance returns to the old investors. But no matter what investigators turn up, the scandal represents another cloud over Wall Street and its watchdog agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1217/p03s05-usec.html



The Madoff debacle: End of the “who coulda known” era

Huffington Post
by Arianna Huffington

12/16/08

Is it Iraq? Fannie Mae? Citigroup? Bernie Madoff? The correct answer is: all of the above. When you look at the elements that were crucial to the creation of each of these debacles, it’s amazing how much in common they all have. And not just in how they began but in how they ended: with those responsible being amazed at what happened, because…who could have known? Well, to paraphrase James Inhofe, I’m amazed at the amazement. In fact, when historians look for a name that sums up the Bush II years, they could do worse than calling them The ‘Who Could Have Known?’ Era. Each of the disasters listed above was entirely predictable. And, indeed, was predicted...

http://tinyurl.com/5mpqhw


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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