Banterer

Quick Change

6/30/2015

At the start, no one takes the clown serious, and now he’s mentioned as a front-runner behind Jeb Bush. With all the talk of the 2016 presidential candidates, one man in particular may be making quick change from lawsuits before an opportunity ever arises for that change he promises in the white house. Donald Trump has always been known as a well-to-do businessman, but how did he get there?

If Trump pulls off a win in his race to the white house, it would be with the help of his friends. Fox and friends are a great option for him to have on his side, as they fall so far right you can never see what’s left. Besides, his media options are dwindling due to some off-color remarks he made about Mexicans. Univision, NBC, Ora TV, and Televisa have all cut ties. The Donald is talking about making millions from the lawsuits he’s serving those who dumped the Trump.

To trigger retaliation, then sue for that said retaliation, would that be equivalent to stealing? Stealing money is the easy part for this self-made billionaire. What appears to be difficult for the man is building anything that doesn’t carry his label. This leaves us with the question of what will he name the border wall? Will it be The Trump Wall or The Great Trump, better yet how about he label’s this one The Donald.

He seems to get out of one situation, only to get into another. Donald Trump co-owns Miss USA and Miss Universe organizations. For that contestant with the classic “world peace” answer, it may not be televised this time through. His “racist” comments led to Univision announcing they wouldn’t broadcast the Miss USA Pageant. After being dropped by Univision, folks called for NBC to fire Trump, and there are now 709K signatures on a petition requesting that Macy’s discontinue sales of Trump merchandise. Ah, the lawsuits that are being given to this man, or so that’s how he views it.

Will the media catch on to his game? He indicated that he would be building a wall, and Mexico would fund it. It seems he will be running a race, and the media will fund it. We’ll have to see what type of change comes from the lawsuits. In the meantime we can enjoy the reality TV show that plays out on Fox news.

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Smoke and Mirrors

6/18/2015

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One new CEO will take the place of the two co-CEO’s at one of the world’s largest banks. Recent scandals are said to be coincidental but unrelated to both of the big bosses stepping down. Anshu Jain will relinquish control on June 30, 15, and in what appears to be a very generous act, he will continue as an advisor to Deutsche Bank for an additional six months without any compensation. Co-CEO Juergen Fitschen, will relinquish control in May 2016, as he’s remaining for an additional period to help ensure a smooth transition of the new chief executive, John Cryan.

The scandals that have cost the bank in reputation and fines date back to 2011 or earlier, and include interest rate manipulation, tax evasion, and money laundering. All cases are separate and damning.

In fixing one, they created a whole other issue. The scam of fixing currency rates ran from 2003 – 2010. Deutsche Bank paid the largest fee of all banks in a rate rigging scandal that settled in April 2015, with 2.5 billion in fines. Aside from the obvious issue of profit losses due to fines, there is a lawsuit against Duetsche Bank from former employees fired during the rate rigging review. Turns out their bonus wasn’t as big as some of the senior colleagues. According to one former employee involved in the lawsuit, they generated a lot of profit for the bank and his bonus was a measly 4.3 million euros, compared to those that scored more during the years of 2008 – 2009. The 96 million dollar banker bonus based on profits was paid out in 2008 – 2009, and was discontinued thereafter.

Deep discounts lead to trouble, especially when those deep discounts are a form of tax evasion. Following both Co-CEO’s announcing their resignation came a police raid of the Deutsche Bank offices in Frankfurt. Only a coincidence, the targets of the investigation was not the bank’s employees, but 9 of the bank’s clients. Not to say the bank hasn’t also experienced issues over the years with tax evasion, but that’s another story. Separate cases that developed from timing.

Consequences don’t only fall on those who do the crime, as is the case when you’re used. Another recent scandal involving Duetsche Bank is a current money laundering investigation that involves data from 2011 – 2015. The investigation revolves around a few of the bank’s Russian clients. They’re suspected of purchasing stock with the Ruble, while simultaneous trades were made through London for the same stocks using the dollar. The suspected money laundering took place through the Moscow branch, and it’s still being investigated whether any staff was involved.

The act of putting the needs of a large Investment Bank before one’s self appears quite honorable. The division most under fire is the investment side of the institution, an area Jain led prior to accepting the position of Co-CEO. Jain isn’t being blamed for the illegal activity that took place during that span. Instead, he was given even more authority recently, which made his resignation a surprise. He held the role of restructuring. More than a few bankers were given the shaft before Jain resigned from his post.

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Quick Change

Smoke and Mirrors

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