OVER 1,000 IRS Workers Misuse Gov’t Charge Cards, 325 BAD CHECKS… “Employees who wrote NSF checks or had suspended or charged-off accounts received little or no disciplinary action”…

IG: More Than 1,000 IRS Employees Misused Government Charge Cards; Wrote 325 Bad Checks 

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration revealed in a recently released audit report that in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 more than 1,000 Internal Revenue Service employees misused government charge cards issued by Citibank.

The report said that during the two years in question agency employees sent Citibank a total of 325 bad checks written on personal [...]

DEATH BY BICYCLE: Wall Street Journal Goes Absolutely Ballistic Over New York’s New Bike Share Plan

Big thanks to Josh Brown for pointing this gem out.

The Wall Street Journal has made an epic editorial video blasting NYC’s new bike share program (called Citibikes).

The lead plaintiff is editorial board member Dorothy Rabinowitz, who calls Bloomberg totalitarian, and says that she speaks for the great majority of New Yorkers who detest the bikes, and that they’re a fire hazard.

Rabinowitz’s best lines:

“Do not ask me to enter the minds of the totalitarians [...]

PNC Bank Warns 5 Million Customers It Might Have Been Hacked

Last week it was Citibank, and now it seems hackers have taken aim at PNC Bank.

The bank has sent a message to some five million customers warning of a possible cyber attack, the AP Is reporting.

So far, the bank’s ”websites are getting hit with high traffic consistent with computer attacks,” according to the report,  and has  some users have been blocked from the site.

What happens in this case is that hackers will hit the site [...]

Howard Davies: A decisive year for ‘deglobalisation’

from FT:

Since the crisis cross-border lending has fallen sharply and the ambitions of major American and European banks have been scaled back. HSBC has withdrawn from a number of countries; Citibank and Barclay’s have other preoccupations. The continental European banks are struggling to strengthen their capital bases, and emerging market assets have been realised to bolster the parents’ balance sheets. So are we entering a new age of financial deglobalisation? [...]

CNN: Massive bank cyberattack planned

from CNN:

Security firm McAfee on Thursday released a report warning that a massive cyberattack on 30 U.S. banks has been planned, with the goal of stealing millions of dollars from consumers’ bank accounts.

McAfee’s research upheld an October report from RSA, the security wing of IT giant EMC Corp (EMC, Fortune 500).

RSA startled the security world with its announcement that a gang of cybercriminals had developed a sophisticated Trojan aimed at funneling money out of bank [...]

Aaron Dykes: The megabanks wants you to go cashless, without receipts, in the name of reducing carbon they issue credits on.

ATM Guilt: Your Paper Receipt is Destroying the Earth

Aaron Dykes
Infowars.com
November 7, 2012

When you pay a $2, $3, $4 or even $5 fee to retrieve your money from one of the hundreds of thousands of ATM machines located across the country, you apparently haven’t sacrificed enough to the banks that run the globe.

Now, at many of those cash dispensaries, the user is asked to do just a bit more.

By simply skipping your paper [...]

Is Something Seriously Wrong At Citibank? Is This The beginning of A Crisis? The Fiscal Cliff?

October 16, 2012 — Vikram Pandit stepped down as CEO of Citigroup on Tuesday after steering the bank through 2008 financial crisis and the choppy years that followed.

Pandit’s replacement as CEO is Michael Corbat, the current CEO of Citigroup’s Europe, Middle East and Africa division, the bank said. Corbat has worked at Citigroup and its predecessors since he graduated from Harvard in 1983, it said.

Pandit will also relinquish his seat [...]

REPORT: Obama ‘pioneering contributor’ to devastating subprime lending bubble

President Barack Obama was a pioneering contributor to the national subprime real estate bubble, and roughly half of the 186 African-American clients in his landmark 1995 mortgage discrimination lawsuit against Citibank have since gone bankrupt or received foreclosure notices.

As few as 19 of those 186 clients still own homes with clean credit ratings, following a decade in which Obama and other progressives pushed banks to provide mortgages to poor African [...]

Barack Obama pushed banks to give subprime loans to Chicago’s African-Americans

President Barack Obama was a pioneering contributor to the national subprime real estate bubble, and roughly half of the 186 African-American clients in his landmark 1995 mortgage discrimination lawsuit against Citibank have since gone bankrupt or received foreclosure notices.

As few as 19 of those 186 clients still own homes with clean credit ratings, following a decade in which Obama and other progressives pushed banks to provide mortgages to poor African [...]

Matt Taibbi – Ludicrous Times Op-Ed Forgets Entire Year Of Wall Street History

It was riotous, side-splitting comedy last week when Sanford Weill, the onetime head of Citibank, went on CNBC to announce that he thought it was time to break up the big banks.

Why this was funny: Through his ambitious (and at the time not yet legal) decision to merge Citibank, Travelers, and Salomon Brothers into one giant wrecking ball of greed, self-dealing and global irresponsibility called Citigroup, Weill more or less single-handedly created [...]

Geithner: ‘We don’t know’ about U.S. banks’ role in Libor-fixing scandal

AFP
July 26, 2012

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday said he did not know whether three major US banks were involved in the manipulation of a key benchmark borrowing rate.

Answering Senate Banking Committee questions about Bank of America, Citibank and JP Morgan Chase’s possible roles in the global Libor fixing scandal, Geithner referred lawmakers to investigators.

Asked whether he was aware of possible wrongdoing, Geithner said: “We don’t know that. But I [...]

Wall Street is buzzing about this surprising bank story today

From Zero Hedge:

Who is Sandy Weill? He is none other than a retired Citigroup Chairman, a former NY Fed Director, and a “philanthropist.”

He is also the man who lobbied for overturning of Glass Steagall in the last years of the 20th century, whose repeal permitted the merger of Travelers and Citibank, in the process creating Citigroup, the largest of the TBTF banks eventually bailed out by taxpayers.

In his memoir, Weill [...]

Nearly all levels we were watching at the end of last week have given way, suggesting further market turmoil ahead.

What To Expect Next For The US Dollar, Euro, Stocks & Bonds

KWN

With global stock markets continuing to struggle, top Citi analyst Tom Fitzpatrick puts KWN readers ahead of the curve on stocks, the US dollar, euro, bonds & more.  Fitzpatrick, a 28 year veteran and top analyst at Citibank, which has $1.3 trillion in assets, sent KWN some extremely powerful charts and notes.  Below were his comments with five key [...]

Time for ‘Banksters’ to be prosecuted

Katrina vanden Heuvel, Wednesday, July 11, 2012

excerpts:

… The stakes are staggering. The Libor should be as good as gold. It pegs the value of up to $800 trillion in financial instruments. The collusion was systematic and routine. Investigations are underway not only in the United Kingdom but also in the United States, Canada and the European Union. Those named in the probes are all the usual suspects: JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, [...]

Citi’s Fitzpatrick – Euro Under Pressure, Ready to Collapse

KWN

Today King World News wanted to share with its global readers a portion of top Citibank analyst, Tom Fitzpatrick’s latest report.  Fitzpatrick, a 28 year veteran and top analyst at Citibank, which has $1.3 trillion in assets, covered the two key markets, the euro vs the dollar and bonds.  Below were his comments with two important charts:

 

Tom Fitzpatrick latest report:

 

“U.S. 30 year yields held 2.50% twice – the first time in [...]

The euro crisis could be morphing into a repeat of this 1980s disaster, this story is important because it is happening again today

From Bruce Krasting:

I participated in a slow-motion disaster back in theearly ’80s. I was working for the global powerhouse, Citibank. Walter Wristonwas running the show at the time.
 
He “famously” said, “Countries don’t gobankrupt.” His thinking resulted in an enormous increase in the bank’sexposure to global sovereign lending.
 
All of the big global banks followed Citi’s direction.It was one big party. All the bankers were headed to Brazil, Mexico andArgentina. They all [...]

CITI: The Consumer Confidence Double-Top Means Stocks Could Plunge To 2011 Lows

In an interview with King World News, top Citibank technical analyst Tom Fitzpatrick said that his group expects the stock markets to fall again thanks to the turn in consumer confidence.

 

“Contrary to what most people think, is that the consumer sentiment drives the equity markets rather than vice versa,” he says.

More from King World News:

“We saw that in 2000, 2007, and again in 2011, that when consumer confidence peaked and turned, it’s often an early [...]

CITI: We Have Reached A Critical Point In The Crisis, Things Could Get A Lot Worse

Today top Citibank analyst, Tom Fitzpatrick, warned that despite the rally, if Europe does not take decisive action we will see this crisis accelerate.  Fitzpatrick, a 28 year veteran and top analyst at Citibank, which has $1.3 trillion in assets, also said, “the concern levels are still there, and if anything they are becoming elevated.”  Fitzpatrick also provided some excellent charts which illustrate the ongoing train wreck that is Europe.  Here [...]

Citi’s Fitzpatrick – Despite Rally, Crisis To Get Even Worse

KWN

Today top Citibank analyst, Tom Fitzpatrick, warned that, despite the rally, if Europe does not take decisive action we will see this crisis accelerate.  Fitzpatrick, a 28 year veteran and top analyst at Citibank, which has $1.3 trillion in assets, also said, “the concern levels are still there, and if anything they are becoming elevated.”  Fitzpatrick also provided some excellent charts which illustrate the ongoing train wreck that is Europe.  Here [...]

CITI: We Will Now See Extreme Turbulence in Global Markets

KWN

Today top Citibank analyst, Tom Fitzpatrick, warned that despite the initial enthusiasm surrounding the Spanish bank bailout, “this is yet another over-promise, under-deliver dynamic coming out of Europe.”  Fitzpatrick, a 28 year veteran and top analyst at Citibank, which has $1.3 trillion in assets, also said, “we are moving to the point where we’re no longer going to be able to see the stabilization on false promises and under-deliveries.”  He also [...]

Bloomberg is predicting a two-notch downgrade for Bank of America and Citibank to one level above “junk” status.

“Several major U.S. banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Morgan Stanley, are preparing for the possibility of a downgrade by Moody’s Investment Service that could come by the end of this week, the Wall Street Journal reports.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/moodys-blues-major-u-s-banks-dreading-possible-downgrades/

Bloomberg is predicting a two-notch downgrade for Bank of America and Citibank to one level above “junk” status.

“Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman, Morgan [...]

Top Citibank Analyst Fitzpatrick – US Dollar Strong, What to Expect From Gold & Global Equities

KWN

Today top Citibank analyst, Tom Fitzpatrick, spoke with King World News about global markets, gold and the US dollar.  Fitzpatrick, a 28 year veteran and top analyst at Citibank, which has $1.3 trillion in assets, said that, despite bounces, stock markets will continue to head lower in the coming weeks.  Fitzpatrick included two important charts, but first, here is what he had to say about the moves in the US [...]

JP Morgan Derivatives Exposure: Systemic Risk Is Everywhere

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

The $2 billion loss of JP Morgan in derivatives trading is signaling, once again, the enormous risks big banks take with taxpayer backing.  All U.S. banks are covered by the FDIC, and if a loss is big enough, it could threaten the financial system just as it did in 2008.  JP Morgan has $70 trillion in total derivative exposure.  The entire world has a little more than $700 [...]

Citigroup facing major downgrade from Moody’s

Citigroup, the third-largest US lender by assets, said a hypothetical two-level downgrade of its credit by all three ratings firms could compel the company to come up with $4.7 billion in cash.

The funds would be needed to cover collateral for derivative triggers and exchange margin requirements, the New York-based company said yesterday in its quarterly filing with securities regulators. The sum would be $1.1 billion if only Moody’s Investors Service [...]

The men most responsible for the collapse of the American dream are heaped with honors at the highest levels of society

How evil is this? At a time when two-thirds of U.S. homeowners are drowning in mortgage debt and the American dream has crashed for tens of millions more, Sanford Weill, the banker most responsible for the nation’s economic collapse, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

So much for the academy’s proclaimed “230-plus year history of recognizing some of the world’s most accomplished scholars, scientists, writers, artists, [...]

Wall Street Flees Wall Street

Written by Scott Parkin

Wall Street is scared shitless.

They’d never admit it, but the way the big Wall Street banks are rapidly relocating their annual shareholder meetings from the concrete canyons of Midtown and lower Manhattan this shareholder season to points south, north and west means that fear is not only visible, you can smell it on them like retched dead sea life.

JPMorgan Chase moved to Tampa, Florida, home of a new burgeoning [...]

Five things you need to know before filing your taxes this year

From Sovereign Man:

If you’re a U.S. taxpayer, you’ll want to heed the following before dropping off your 1040 this year.

You see, in 2010, Congress and President Obama passed a series of new rules known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA. FATCA affects every U.S. taxpayer who does anything overseas, as well as every single financial institution on the planet. It may be the most arrogant piece of [...]

Wal-Mart shut down three warehouses in Southern California when Occupiers gathered to ally with unions and show support for the region’s 118,000 storehouse workers, many of whom are underpaid and overworked.

Spilling out below the snow-dusted San Bernardino Mountains, California’s Inland Empire in Southern California is America’s storage shed. Its economy is a key link in the global supply chain. Goods from Asia funnel through the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports that handle more than one-quarter of all the imports pouring into the United States every year, and much of it is warehoused here before finding its way into homes and businesses [...]

The history of all the times Citibank has been bailed out in one form or another is in the Time magazine article below.

“Citibank: Teetering Since 1812″

www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1873125,00.html

ISDA to Decide if 5 Major US Banks Go Bankrupt This Week

Except for the fact that it feels like we’ve been here before, this looks very much like it’s time to have some cash, a full tank of gas, prescription drugs, and food on hand. We’ve been expecting something like this; the money has been cut off, so I doubt there will be any ‘fixing’ of this situation until things are shut down and given the opportunity to start up again [...]

States Score $25B Settlement In Deceptive Foreclosure Practices Suit

by AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s five largest mortgage lenders have agreed to overhaul their industry after deceptive foreclosure practices drove homeowners out of their homes, government officials said Monday.

A draft settlement between the banks and U.S. states has been sent to state officials for review.

Those who lost their homes to foreclosure are unlikely to get their homes back or benefit much financially from the settlement, which could be as high [...]

The CDS Market And Anti-Trust Considerations

The CDS index market remains one of the most liquid sources of hedges and positioning available (despite occasional waxing and waning in volumes) and is often used by us as indications of relative flows and sophisticated investor risk appetite. However, as Kamakura Corporation has so diligently quantified, the broad CDS market (specifically including single-names) remains massively concentrated. This concentration, evidenced by the Honolulu-based credit guru’s findings that three institutions: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of [...]

The term “To Big To Fail” began in 1984 with Continental Illinois bank. That is when the Comptroller of Currency stated the 11 largest banks in the US were “to big to fail”, implying they would receive de facto 100% support.

http://www.fdic.gov/bank/historical/history/235_258.pdf

http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/international/bibliography/1999/toobig.pdf

However bailouts out banks in the US have been going on in one form or another for decades… see the history of Citibank called …. “Citibank: Teetering Since 1812″.

www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1873125,00.html 

City Bank of New York was founded in 1812 by a group of merchants hoping to fill the void left by the demise of the first Bank of the United States, the sort-of central bank whose charter Congress had allowed [...]

We can put some names to this grift, and maybe take a wild guess who sold Greek CDS…

http://www.isda.org/credit/

EMEA

Voting Dealers
Bank of America / Merrill Lynch
Barclays
BNP Paribas
Credit Suisse
Deutsche Bank
Goldman Sachs
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
Morgan Stanley
Société Générale
UBS

Consultative Dealers
Citibank
The Royal Bank of Scotland

Voting Non-dealers
BlueMountain Capital (Second Term Non-dealer)
Citadel LLC(First Term Non-dealer)
D.E. Shaw Group (First Term Non-dealer)
Elliott Management Corporation (Third Term Non-dealer)
Pacific Investment Management Co., LLC (Second Term Non-dealer)

 

…so allow me to be plain.  If you buy this crap from any of the above companies you absolutely deserve to lose all your money.

Under a rule approved by the FDIC Tuesday, the largest US banks must file “living wills”: plans for how they would break up their assets if they were in danger of failing. Seven banks with more than $250 billion in assets will have to show their plans by July.

WASHINGTON –  The largest banks must show how they would break up their assets if they were in danger of failing, under a rule approved Tuesday.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. voted to require banks with $50 billion or more in assets to submit so-called living wills. Seven banks with more than $250 billion in assets will have to show their plans by July. The other 30 affected by the rule [...]