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It Ain't Over Till It's Over.

By John Dietz - Email Editor

Date : July 29, 2008

Dear Valued Reader,

Our goal at TrustMakers is to create a client and subscriber base that is educated and conscious regarding financial public interest issues. We concentrate our literature; e-books, hard copy books, courses, certifications, Internet sites and seminars on the choice topics that we believe will help in the protection of assets. We portray the behind the scenes and the unknown details on legislation updates, news stories, litigation and Asset Protection and vow to keep you informed.

In my news stories, we have been following three separate stories intertwined by the global market of investments.

On the LGT story -

An ex-employee defected from LGT bank in Lichtenstein and provided evidence and secrets of German and US clients’ tax evasion to Chancellor of Germany, Andrea Merkel. (Rumblings of the investigation first surfaced around February 2008.) An aura of confusion erupted with the story about whether the German government was the bad guy in the story or was it the snitch that violated bank clients' privacy?

On the Bear Sterns story –

Bear Sterns had no choice when the Fed extended JPMorgan Chase a $30 billion credit line to help buy rival Bear Stearns, a firm with an 85-year history on Wall Street that was on the verge of collapsing due to losses in the mortgage market. JPMorgan purchased the stock for about $2 a share (when it was trading at $30), or about $236 million.

We learned a few details later to shed light on the story.

Bear Stearns manages much more that their own assets and a vast amount of their assets (at that time) were employee owned. For the majority of cash flow, Bear Stearns serves as a “counterparty” and intermediary for retirement funds, hedge funds and smaller banks. By saving Bear Stearns, the third parties were saved (possibly you, your hedge fund or your pension), however duly noted that the employees suffered. Imagine bankruptcy cases in the billions of dollars, so right or wrong, the Fed got Chairmen, Jamie Dimon, out of bed the night before the announcement and the deal was put together by dawn as told on July 9th, 2009 on the Charlie Rose Show.

On the IndyMac Bank Collapse –

Last week, our country suffered its second biggest bank failure in history to the tune of $32 billion USD. Customers panicked concerning the loss of funds over the FDIC guaranteed amount of $100,000.

What we subsequently learned –

We only learned at the end of the week what caused the panic and it, surprisingly, was not the media. The mass panic and run on the bank came after a critical letter about the bank from Senator Charles F. Schummer, Democrat of New York. Federal regulators said on Friday that Mr. Schummer’s letter had prompted the collapse by causing the run and scaring away potential acquirers. In the days after Mr. Schummer’s letter was released on June 26, IndyMac customers withdrew an average of $100 million a day from the bank, or a total of $1.3 billion, the government said. Now, there is much talk that there will be a lawsuit against the Senator, even though the Senator receives immunity by law.

On the UBS Story –

A U.S. Senate subcommittee accused UBS AG, a Swiss bank, of helping wealthy Americans evade billions in taxes each year, and urged the establishment of tougher laws to combat offshore tax havens around the world. UBS was reported to be cooperating with the Feds.

This week, it is a whole new ball game!

At the end of the week, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit against UBS for something like $330 billion for misrepresentations that their auction-rate securities market was safe and liquid as money-market securities. Cuomo's investigation also discovered, through subpoenaed e-mails, that the bank's top executives sold $21 million in personal holdings as the auction-rate market began to freeze up. UBS has now stated that they will fight the Feds.

As the round table of news continues, we will inform you of the latest developments. This is the purpose of education and the honorable quest to always be a student. In the name of this educational goal, I would like to welcome you to browse the brochure for the Asset Protection Society and our Las Vegas Seminar on October 6 and 7, 2008. (Click here to sign up for Asset Protection Society Seminar.)

At this seminar, you will meet and learn from the finest minds in the country, attorneys, tax accountants, international planners and many national experts in the specialty areas of Wealth Preservation, Asset Protection and Estate Planning. Even as experts we view learning and education as a process never ending!

Until next time,
 
John

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