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Newly disclosed documents show the FED lent money to Gaddaffi owned Bank
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| Zharen |
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/...s_n_843400.html
| quote: | Federal Reserve Lent To Gaddafi-Owned Bank, European Firms After Fighting Disclosure For 3 Years
At a time when credit markets shunned even the most worthy borrowers, foreign banks, including one partly-owned by Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, fled to the Federal Reserve and borrowed at rock-bottom interest rates, Fed documents released Thursday show.
During the height of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008, as investors and firms hoarded cash, the Fed reduced its rates to kickstart lending in the broader economy. Arab Banking Corp., a $28 billion lender now 59 percent-owned by Libya's central bank, borrowed at least $3.2 billion during this time. The Fed charged it an interest rate ranging from 2.25 percent to as low as 1.25 percent on those borrowings, regular Fed data show.
AAA-rated corporations paid bondholders an average rate ranging from 5.63 percent to 6.37 percent during the same period, according to the Fed.
The Fed lends money to banks at cheaper rates than the market because it intends for those funds to be distributed throughout the economy. The primary facility, known as the discount window, has been in practice since 1914.
Arab Banking Corp., which can borrow from the Fed because it has a subsidiary in the U.S., was among the foreign banks that had difficulty accessing cash from other lenders during that time, leaving it to turn to America's central bank.
Records show the Libyan bank borrowed its funds beginning on September 18, 2008 and lasting through at least November 13 of the same year. The daily high point came on three separate occasions in October and November, when the lender tapped the discount window for $600 million. Beginning Oct. 8, those loans were available at a 1.75 percent interest rate. A few weeks later, the rate dropped to 1.25 percent.
These disclosures and more were buried in nearly 30,000 pages spread across almost 900 computer files that the Fed released to reporters under court order in response to lawsuits launched nearly three years ago by Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, and Fox Business Network, the financial news television channel of Fox News.
The Fed had fought against disclosing data surrounding its activities during the financial crisis. After President Barack Obama signed his financial reform package into law last July, calling for the nation's central bank to release documents on most of its lending programs, a coalition of the nation's largest financial institutions took the Fed's case to the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to keep the records hidden.
The high court declined to hear the case, and in December, the Fed released critical details on its emergency crisis-era programs. For the first time it revealed the identities of the banks, investment firms, insurance companies, automakers, corporations, and other borrowers it flooded with more than $3 trillion in taxpayer-backed cash.
But it took federal courts and two determined news organizations to force the public release of the Fed's discount-window activities during the same time. On Thursday, the Fed finally disclosed such information.
Now, for the first time, the public can see which banks, from the smallest community lender to the largest Wall Street bank, accessed the backstop at their regional Federal Reserve bank during the worst financial emergency since the Great Depression. The loans are far more generous than what banks get from the market.
Trillion-dollar financial behemoths like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup accessed cheap Fed cash through the discount window, as did smaller firms like Proficio Bank, a Utah lender with just $125 million in deposits.
After changing its legal status from an investment firm to a bank, Goldman Sachs also benefited from the Fed's discount window. A top Goldman executive had previously testified under oath to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that it accessed the program simply to test its systems.
In September 2008 -- the month that saw the federal government takeover Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; the failure of Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history; the forced-sale of Washington Mutual, the largest bank failure in U.S. history; and a government rescue of AIG, the world's largest insurer -- the Fed lent borrowers $1,574,142,741,934 through its discount window and emergency programs, documents show.
During the same period, 22 foreign-based banks borrowed $56.6 billion on 42 separate occasions from the Fed's discount window, according to a Huffington Post analysis of Fed documents.
The disclosures led Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, to write Fed chairman Ben Bernanke asking why the central bank lent U.S. funds to foreign firms. Sanders wrote that he had "serious concerns" in particular over the Fed's lending to Arab Banking Corp., the Libya-owned lender.
The Federal Reserve did not respond to a request for comment. |
How funny is that? We lent money to the very enemy we are attempting to vanquish 3 years later. I have to wonder who exactly is in charge of this country these days. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
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The disclosures led Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, to write Fed chairman Ben Bernanke asking why the central bank lent U.S. funds to foreign firms. Sanders wrote that he had "serious concerns" in particular over the Fed's lending to Arab Banking Corp., the Libya-owned lender. |
you guys sound like stupid hick twats sometimes. |
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| Lews |
| I'm pretty outraged by this. Can't believe we only charged them a rate of 1.25%. Ridiculous. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lews
I'm pretty outraged by this. Can't believe we only charged them a rate of 1.25%. Ridiculous. |
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The Fed lends money to banks at cheaper rates than the market because it intends for those funds to be distributed throughout the economy. |
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| Lews |
| I'm well aware of how the discount window works. It was a joke :p |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| i was wondering :stongue: |
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| Comrade Stalin |
| Finally, the smoking gun. The Fed is using a network of dictators to implement the NWO by force country by country. Their success depends on Qaddafi! |
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| Moral Hazard |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zharen
How funny is that? We lent money to the very enemy we are attempting to vanquish 3 years later. I have to wonder who exactly is in charge of this country these days. |
You're in' kidding right.... getting correct information is your friend. The article notes that the Libyans NOW own 59%... at the time is was 29%, Kuwait and Abu Dabi had approximately equal shares. Is no one upset the US was proping up those evil dictators in Kuwait and the UAE... oh, wait, they're still your friends and not so evil... maybe this is a legitimate business venture; nah, can't be. Additionally, did the application for the money demand a full listing of all shareholders of all firms requesting money? I'm going to guess not... why; because that's amongst the most impracticle and unimportant things ever. Who in' cares who owns the shares... the business is a legal entity unto itself, not an extension of the shareholders... good in' thing too since I don't want to be held to account for every thing any of the firms I'm invested with do. But hey, don't let facts or reason get in the way of your politics. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
Here�s a comment from a poster on another forum I thought put things in perspective nicely.
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The Federal Reserve recently provided to Bloomberg details of which depository institutions utilized the discount window during 2008 through 2010. Contrary to what the article says, loans through the discount window are not "emergency" loans and it is not a "bail out". The discount window is open to all depository institutions in the U.S. that are in generally sound financial condition. If Senator Sanders wants to know why a bank is eligible for a discount window loan and "credit-worthy small businesses" were not, he need look no further than the law governing the Federal Reserve.
While it has changed some over time, the discount window has been available for loans and been used as a monetary policy tool since 1933. The loans made through the discount window are always short-term and are typically overnight. All discount window loans are secured by appropriate collateral. Also, the value of the collateral must exceed the amount of the loan. The amount that the collateral must exceed the value of the loan is determined by a risk assessment of the collateral pledged.
Arab Banking Corporation (ABC), which is the bank mentioned in the article, has a branch in New York. It does a substantial amount of business facilitating international trade between the U.S. and almost all countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Also, when the discount window transactions were made, relations with Libya were normal. I am sure that its role in international trade with U.S. businesses probably contributed to extending it credit through the discount window.
In regards to the exemption from sanctions against Libyan owned businesses, that was a decision of the U.S. Treasury and not the Federal Reserve. Also, while the Central Bank of Libya does have a 59% percent stake in ABC, ABC was established and incorporated in Bahrain. It is regulated as a wholesale conventional bank by the Central Bank of Bahrain. The fact that it was incorporated under the laws of Bahrain and it is regulated by Bahrain is the reason for the exemption. It should be noted that the UK Treasury also exempted ABC from UN sanctions in the UK. |
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| Lews |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
i was wondering :stongue: |
I'm insulted you doubted me. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| Haha, my apologies lews!! |
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