SEC approves ICE credit-default swap clearing plan

[TahoeBlue]

Just-In-Time for the New Financial Order and the G20 Summit meetings is a clearing house for the Credit Derivitives market. The debate/question seems to be how much and how long will the U.S. pay the NWO for the Derivatives "Funny Money"?

Will the U.S. be kept on the hook for 60+ trillion dollars? Are we that stupid?

This seems to get at the heart of the Evidence points to breakdown in US / UK Relations thread.

The insanely wierd thing about this whole mess is that Paul Volcker is advocating Glass Steagall and Blaming Summers and Geithner for the Lack of Economic Recovery.
So you have Geithner and Summers on one side of Obama cheering for the IMF and Volcker on the other side trying to split the banks in half and isolate the Derivative Crisis.
Now, the Fiancial Ministers can say whatever the hell they want with no result until the actual representatives show up at the actual G-20 Meeting.
The question is , Is obama going to follow Paul Volckers guidence or Larry Summers guidence

It seems the logical move for the U.S. is to reinstitute Glass/Steagall  which will get us off the hook for trillions . Soros and company wants to make us beholden to Europe and pay  the NWO FOREVER...

Also IMF Poised To Print Billions Of Dollars ( Special Drawing Rights ) seems to point to a new U.S. Debt instrument where they will monitize the default of CDO's and CDS's  ....

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/sec-approves-ice-credit-default-swap/story.aspx?guid=%7B09B88530-658B-4D25-A216-A80969515DC3%7D&dist=msr_2

SEC approves ICE credit-default swap clearing plan

By Sarah N. Lynch
Last update: 8:27 a.m. EDT March 9, 2009
(This article was originally published Friday.)
4:00pm 03/13/2009

ICE  plan to clear credit-default swap trades received the final approval it needed from the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday, paving the way for it to become the first operational clearinghouse for credit-default swaps in the United States.

The company said in a release that its new clearinghouse, dubbed ICE US Trust, will start offering clearing on Monday for credit-default swap index transactions before it branches out to other types of credit-default swap contracts.

The SEC's approval of ICE US Trust, which exempts the clearinghouse from certain securities laws, marks a big step toward the U.S. government's efforts to offer clearing for over-the-counter derivatives like credit-default swaps, which alone make up an estimated $27 trillion market.

"Regulatory approval allows ICE Trust to bring to market the most comprehensive range of credit-default swap clearing and risk management services available today," said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, chairman and chief executive of ICE.
ICE shares, which closed up 4% at $60.39 Friday, climbed to $61.99 in after-hours trading.
Some critics believe these complex instruments have played a role in the financial crisis. As evidence, they point to the near-collapse of American International Group (AIG), which issued credit-default swaps without having enough collateral to fulfill the provisions in those contracts.
Clearing, regulators believe, will help reduce risks that credit-default swaps pose to financial system and provide regulators with a window into the now opaque market.
"It is critical that we bring increased transparency to credit-default swaps by developing efficient and effective oversight of credit-default swap clearing agencies," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.

A Regulatory ConsortiumThe SEC's approval of ICE Trust comes just days after the Federal Reserve Board and the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice also approved the plans. ICE Trust is structured as a limited purpose bank and will be overseen primarily by the Fed.
The Fed, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission agreed in November to share oversight of credit derivatives, heading off a brewing turf battle.
However, regulators' self-imposed year-end deadline passed with no clearinghouses operational in the United States, and the piecemeal approvals that trickled out rankled some who wanted several platforms approved at once, to mitigate any potential first-mover advantage.
CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton on Friday lambasted what he termed as the SEC's "one-sided action," giving ICE a leg up on the competition by approving it ahead of Chicago-based CME Group Inc. , which has developed its own CDS clearinghouse and still awaits SEC approval.
"I had hoped and expected that the SEC would act so as not to disadvantage any market participant, not to create 'regulatory arbitrage,' not to be in the position that government should never be in - of acting such as to create winners and losers in the marketplace," Chilton told Dow Jones Newswires.
ICE, which is based in Atlanta, is one of several exchange groups angling to clear credit derivatives trades in the United States. CME has teamed with the hedge fund firm Citadel Investment Group to develop a platform for clearing and trading credit-default swaps, dubbed CMDX.
CME has secured regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Reserve for CMDX, and continues to await an exemption from the SEC. CME officials said Friday that they believe SEC approval of the platform is imminent, and an SEC spokesman said CME's application is "actively being considered."

Meanwhile, in December, NYSE Euronext  cleared all the regulatory hurdles for a credit-default swap clearinghouse in the United States. It has already launched a clearing platform in the United Kingdom through a partnership with LCH.Clearnet, but its U.S. platform is still in development.

Market ParticipationDespite these efforts by the private sector to offer clearinghouses, some lawmakers and regulators still fear the derivatives industry will not use them voluntarily and are pushing for legislation to mandate clearing. In Europe, for instance, where there are no mandates on clearing, NYSE Euronext has struggled to gain volume.

But there are strong indications that ICE's platform will be put to use. A consortium of banks have already signed on as initial clearing members, including Bank of America, and its Merrill Lynch unit, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and UBS  .

Each has contributed to the guaranty fund and completed "rigorous technical testing" in recent months, according to ICE.
The exchange secured support from the banks as part of its acquisition of The Clearing Corp., a Chicago-based clearing firm backed by the banks.
The deal was announced in late October and closed today, following approval from the Department of Justice. Terms of the deal included a $39 million cash payment from ICE and a 50% profit-sharing arrangement in ICE Trust.
ICE said Friday it will fund ICE Trust's operations with $35 million from cash on hand and that it has contributed an initial $10 million to the guaranty fund. This figure is expected to rise to $100 million over the next two years, with the guaranty fund's aggregate size determined by the positions held in the clearinghouse.
ICE also said it had tapped Dirk Pruis to serve as president of its new clearinghouse. Pruis previously served as the head of a securities lending consortium called EquiLend. He also oversaw global bank relations and market infrastructure in Goldman Sachs' operations division. ICE shares, which closed at $60.39 per share Friday, climbed as high as $62 in after-hours trading before heading lower, recently $58.01.
Beyond the U.S., ICE plans to develop a separate credit derivatives clearinghouse for Europe, following calls by European regulators for a Eurozone-based solution. The European entity will function within ICE Clear Europe, the exchange's European clearinghouse, and will be regulated by the U.K. Financial Services Authority.
In Europe, ICE expects to initially clear trades in Markit iTraxx credit default swap indexes.

http://www.financialpolicy.org/fpfspb20.htm

Derivatives Use Surges by 30%
As Industry Grows More Concentrated
New Data from the Bank for International Settlements

Randall Dodd Director Financial Policy Forum
December 21, 2004

....

GROWTH IN MARKET SIZE

The amount of outstanding derivatives in global over-the-counter (OTC) markets grew at a 30% rate for the year ending June 30, 2004.  The growth rate has average 28% since 1990.[1]  That brought the global amount outstanding OTC derivatives to $220.1 trillion dollars.


http://financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/amerman/2008/0917.html

AIG’s Dangerous Collapse
& A Credit Derivatives Risk Primer
by Daniel R. Amerman, CFA | September 17, 2008
Print
Overview

 While it may look superficially similar to the recent implosions of such investment giants as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Lehman, the takeover and bailout of AIG is quite different, and means that the market is entering the next and even more dangerous phase. What is driving the fall of AIG – and potential government losses that may far, far exceed the $85 billion bailout announced late on September 16th - is not mortgages or real estate (directly), but fears that AIG’s huge, global credit-default swap positions will unravel. The $62 trillion dollar credit derivatives market is 50 times the size of the subprime mortgage derivatives market, and is indeed larger than the entire global economy.
...

[TahoeBlue]

The SEC's approval of ICE US Trust, which exempts the clearinghouse from certain securities laws, marks a big step toward the U.S. government's efforts to offer clearing for over-the-counter derivatives like credit-default swaps, which alone make up an estimated $27 trillion market.

Just a follow up as to what the "Exemptions" are.

No there will be no fraud, manipulation or insider trading.  No NO NO.... As pure as the driven snow.

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2009/2009-49.htm
SEC Approves Exemptions Allowing ICE US Trust LLC to Operate as Central Counterparty for Credit Default Swaps

Washington, D.C., March 6, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today took action to help improve transparency in the multi-trillion dollar credit default swap market by approving conditional exemptions that will allow ICE US Trust LLC to operate as a central counterparty for clearing credit default swaps.

http://www.alston.com/financialmarketscrisisblog/blog.aspx?entry=1645

SEC, Federal Reserve and Treasury Permit ICE Trust to Operate Clearing Entity for Credit Default Swaps; IntercontinentalExchange Completes Acquisition of The Clearing Corporation

March 8, 2009 11:53 PM | Posted by Anjali Desai |
...
The SEC order grants several exemptions:
ICE Trust is exempt from registering as a clearing agency under Section 17A of the Exchange Act with respect to its clearance of CDS between eligible contract participants meeting the SEC’s criteria under the order (Cleared CDS).
 
CDS which are not included in the Exchange Act’s definition of “swap agreements” (non-excluded CDS) from the securities laws are exempt to the same extent that “security-based swap agreements” are exempt.  Like security-based swap agreements, however, non-excluded CDS are subject to SEC rules prohibiting fraud, manipulation and insider trading.   This exemption is available to ICE Trust and parties to non-excluded CDS transactions, other than self-regulatory organizations, registered broker-dealers, and any entities that hold funds of third parties in connection with CDS transactions.  Registered broker-dealers have the benefit of separate temporary exemptions granted by the SEC, as discussed below.
 
Temporary exemptive relief is granted from Exchange Act Sections 5 and 6 for broker-dealers and exchanges effecting transactions in non-excluded CDS.  Subject to conditions, the exemption provides that an exchange effecting transactions in non-excluded CDS does not have to register with the SEC as a national securities exchange.  In addition, broker-dealers may effect transactions in non-excluded CDS on an exchange which is not registered as a national securities exchange. 
 
An exemption is provided for registered broker-dealers only, narrowly tailored so that it applies solely to their activities in connection with Cleared CDS.   Broker-dealers engaging in Cleared CDS are exempt from the Exchange Act requirements and rules to the same extent they are exempt with respect to security-based swap agreements.  However, the antifraud, anti-manipulation and insider trading prohibitions under the Exchange Act are explicitly applicable to broker-dealers engaged in Cleared CDS.

...

the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released an interpretive letter in which it authorized a national bank to become a clearing member of ICE Trust, provided that the bank established an appropriate risk management framework and receives a written supervisory no-objection letter from its examiner-in-charge prior to becoming a clearing member
...
Furthermore, ICE announced in February that its wholly-owned subsidiary, ICE Clear Europe, plans to develop ICE Trust Europe, a specialized CDS clearinghouse for European-based product.  This past week, ICE Clear Europe, regulated by the U.K. Financial Services Authority, confirmed its commitment to working closely with European regulators and industry participants in establishing a European-regulated CCP for CDS.  ICE Trust Europe anticipates launching its services in the first half of 2009.

[Flur]

posting so i can find this again later..

[TahoeBlue]

ICE Trust = Fed Reserve Member

https://www.theice.com/ice_trust.jhtml

ICE TrustTM is a limited purpose bank that serves as a central clearing facility for credit default swaps (CDS). As a New York trust company and a member of the Federal Reserve System, ICE Trust is subject to regulatory and supervisory requirements of the Federal Reserve System and the New York State Banking Department. In addition, both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) may request the review of ICE Trust transaction data from its primary regulator, the Federal Reserve.

Although it is an ICE subsidiary, ICE Trust membership, Board of Directors, officers and operating staff are separate from ICE's other exchange, clearing house and brokerage operations. Membership is open to institutions that meet objective financial and eligibility standards. ICE Trust is an open platform, accessible to all suitable trading platforms.

ICE Trust's clearing services are provided by The Clearing Corporation (TCC). TCC was acquired by ICE on March 6, 2009. Founded in 1925 as the Board of Trade Clearing Corporation, TCC is one of the oldest independent clearing houses in the world. TCC's risk management systems were developed internally based on a proprietary risk assessment methodology designed specifically for the CDS market, and have been reviewed and validated by Finance Concepts, an independent risk management consultancy, as part of the regulatory review process. TCC's methodology is used by ICE Trust to determine initial and variation margin requirements, guaranty fund requirements and official daily settlement prices.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/whatsnew.htm
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/orders/20090304a.htm

Release Date: March 4, 2009

For immediate release
The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday announced its approval of the application by ICE US Trust LLC, New York, New York (ICE Trust), to become a member of the Federal Reserve System.  ICE Trust intends to provide central counterparty services for certain credit default swap contracts. 

ICE Trust is one of several industry proposals that could satisfy the goals of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets regarding the formation of central counterparties for credit default swaps.  In November 2008, the President's Working Group called for the successful implementation of central counterparty services with a view toward reducing systemic risk associated with counterparty credit exposures, facilitating greater market transparency, and encouraging a more competitive trading environment.

[TahoeBlue]

Well, when I first posted this I thought I'd have a lot of follow up posts. ICE Trust was reported to begin CDS trading March 16 (monday) and I assumed there would be much fanfare and flag waving as billions of dollars floated off to europe and JP Morgan.
Alas, I cannot find one, not one article on the opening of this monumental trading operation.

It is interesting that going over the history of the Lehman failure that I found this quote saying that Lehman was not a big CDS issuer which I know is not true. The lion share of Lehmans CDS creditor was Citigroup.

 In short what I am saying is that the bulk of Lehman's creditors were domestic whereas AIG the creditors are foreign. :

http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=93172.msg548202#msg548202

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/09/will-paulson-let-lehman-fail.html
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Lehman Death Watch: Will Paulson Let Lehman Fail?

The short answer is yes
After Freddie and Fannie, Paulson cannot be perceived to be rescuing another firm, particularly a private company that plays no special role (as far as most people are concerned) in things they care about, like housing. Unlike Bear, Lehman is not a big credit default swaps protection writer. That was the exposure that led the powers that be to worry about a systemic failure. Even though Bear and Lehman are similar in size, their business mix differs in ways that make Lehman dispensable. In fact, Paulson almost needs to let a financial player fail to prove that he is not a toady of the industry.


now look at these articles regarding the ICE Trust and Lehman's:

http://www.xe.com/news/Wed%20Mar%2004%2018:24:00%20EST%202009/283133.htm?categoryId=1&currentPage=7

UPDATE 2-ICE US Trust to play CDS central counterparty role  
2009-03-04 23:24 (UTC)   
By Mark Felsenthal
...
Credit default swaps are used to protect against the risk that a borrower will default on its debt, or to speculate on its credit quality. The size of the CDS market is now approximately $28 trillion.
Concerns over the market have centered on the potential widespread loss of insurance, and capital, if a counterparty with a large book of contracts fails.

The market was rocked when big issuers Lehman Brothers and American International Group ran into trouble earlier this year.

AIG's record $61.7 billion quarterly loss posted earlier this week stems in large part from write-downs tied to credit default swaps and other forms of toxic debt.

http://www.examiner.com/p-311831~ICE_Trust_Begins_Clearing_CDS__Addressing_Systemic_and_Operational_Risks__Global_Banks_Begin_Transferring_Existing_Bilateral_Trades_to_ICE_Trust.html

ICE Trust Begins Clearing CDS, Addressing Systemic and Operational Risks; Global Banks Begin Transferring Existing Bilateral Trades to ICE Trust
...

 Completion of the first clearing process is expected to occur March 16. ICE Trust expects to process and clear additional positions over several, one-week novation cycles.
...
CDS clearing by ICE Trust follows several successful initiatives already underway within the industry to reduce systemic and operational risks. ICE has played a key role in certain of these initiatives, including involvement in portfolio compression efforts and credit event auctions, which it administers in conjunction with Markit. Compression runs have reduced over $2 trillion in notional outstanding for single-name CDS in recent months, and credit event auctions have been relied upon by market participants for the orderly settlement of credit derivative trades referencing 43 defaulted entities, including Fannie Mae and Lehman.

[TahoeBlue]

News has continued to be sparse on this.... Finally I found an article.

"ICE Trust has processed over $21 billion in CDS trades, compressing the aggregate exposure to $4 billion"

That is a single drop of an 30 Trillion dollar ocean.

http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/T-Zero+Supports+CDS+Industry+in+Move+to+New+ISDA+Standards%3B+Standardization+of+Coupons+Sets+Stage+for+Clearing+Single+Name+CDS/4506101.html

T-Zero Supports CDS Industry in Move to New ISDA Standards; Standardization of Coupons Sets Stage for Clearing Single Name CDS

March 23, 2009 2:18 PM EDT
NEW YORK, March 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, announced today that its T-Zero(R) subsidiary has launched a new re-couponing service to help ready the credit default swap (CDS) industry for single name coupon standardization. T-Zero is the most widely adopted affirmation and novation consent platform for credit derivatives transactions. A press briefing will be held on Tuesday, March 24, at 8:00 a.m. ET at T-Zero's offices located in New York City at 875 Third Avenue, 29th Floor.

Beginning April 8, the CDS market will move to a new single name Standard North American Corporate (SNAC) 100 and 500 bps coupon CDS contract. This new standardization will help prepare the market for clearing of single name trades in a manner analogous to the way CDS index contracts are now being centrally cleared by ICE Trust(TM). T-Zero's portfolio re-couponing service will allow both dealers and buy-side firms to efficiently transition existing non-standard single name CDS positions to the new SNAC convention.

ICE and its subsidiaries, Creditex(R), T-Zero and ICE Trust, have worked closely with the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA), regulators and market participants in designing innovative solutions to enhance a broad array of CDS risk management, execution, processing and clearing services. In the first two weeks of clearing CDS index contracts, ICE Trust has processed over $21 billion in CDS trades, compressing the aggregate exposure to $4 billion.

To RSVP for the T-Zero press briefing, please e-mail Rachel.Drakes@creditex.com or call 212.323.8510.

www.theice.com.

[TahoeBlue]

400 transations - 45 Billion - not alot going on here out of the ~27 Trillion dollar rat hole.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25279084-36418,00.html

April 02, 2009
Banks need to reduce OTC derivative risks: New York Federal Reserve

Representatives of fifteen major banks met with regulators in New York to discuss progress in bringing central clearing to OTC derivatives markets, particularly for credit default swaps.

"Recent events underscore the need for more progress in reducing risk in the OTC derivatives market," said William C. Dudley, New York Fed president.

While strides have been made, Mr Dudley said: "Banks and buy-side firms still need to make considerable improvements to both risk management and the design of the OTC derivatives markets."

The meeting follows the launch earlier this month of the first US-based clearinghouse for credit derivatives, at the behest of regulators and market participants seeking better transparency and reduced risk in the $US28 trillion ($40 trillion) CDS market.

The development of central clearing facilities for credit derivatives, along with market participants' efforts to reduce the level of outstanding CDS trades, represent important steps forward, according to a statement from the New York Fed.

The size of the CDS market has halved over the last six months as participants net down the notional value of outstanding trades.

But regulators see more to be done, and at the meeting dealers, buy-side participants and global banking authorities agreed to broaden the use of clearinghouses for credit default swaps, opening up the facilities to a wider range of firms and products.

All credit derivatives trades not cleared through a central counterparty will also be reported to a central trade repository.

A bank-backed clearinghouse operated by Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange remains the only operational facility for credit derivatives in the US.

At issue is when membership in that clearinghouse, called ICE US Trust, will be opened up to buy-side participants and other institutions.

Since launching March 9, membership in ICE US Trust has been limited to the nine biggest US banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.

The dealers collectively are seen to represent the majority of credit default swap trading activity; ICE officials have said they plan to revisit membership requirements in the near future.

A competing CDS clearing platform developed by CME Group and Citadel Investment Group aims to have a broader membership, incorporating buy-side firms from the start, according to Kim Taylor, president of CME's clearinghouse.

CME's platform, dubbed CMDX, also aims to clear a wider range of credit derivative instruments at the outset than the ICE Trust platform currently handles, though ICE's product range is expected to grow.

Though CMDX secured regulatory approval in mid-March, Taylor said it was not expected to launch before late April.

Volume on the ICE Trust platform has grown since its March 9 roll-out, with a notional value of about $US45 billion in credit derivatives trades guaranteed as of March 27.

However, the platform has yet to handle any new business, with activity so far limited to back-loading of existing CDS positions.

Attendees at the meeting agreed to update regulators as to their progress by May 29, according to the New York Fed. Other goals set out at the meeting included incorporating an auction-based settlement process into standard documentation for credit default swaps by April 7, and setting new benchmarks for automated processing of over-the-counter trades.


http://www.commodityonline.com/news/ICE-first-quarter-2009-March-volumes-flat-16624-3-1.html

ICE first quarter 2009, March volumes flat
2009-04-03
...
In March 2009, ICE also began clearing credit default swaps (CDS) through ICE Trust.
...
ICE Trust cleared CDS transactions totaling $45 billion in notional value since its launch on March 9, 2009.
...
ICE's CDS markets are operated by Creditex. In the first quarter of 2009 credit derivatives revenues were $36.3 million, down 35% from the first quarter of 2008.

In March 2009, ICE began clearing CDS index contracts through ICE Trust. During its first three weeks, ICE Trust cleared 399 transactions totaling $45 billion of notional value, resulting in $6 billion of open interest. ICE Trust is the industry's first and only CDS clearing house to process transactions.

[TahoeBlue]

Mentioned by Alex today...

http://www.prisonplanet.com/bankers-lobbied-secretly-to-keep-derivatives-under-federal-reserve-%e2%80%98oversight%e2%80%99-and-away-from-real-scrutiny.html

Bankers lobbied secretly to keep derivatives under Federal Reserve ‘oversight’ and away from real scrutiny Aaron Dykes
Jones Report
June 2, 2009

“The banks run the place,” Rep. Collin Peterson cried out this week. The New York Times reports that he has a bill that would specifically ban derivatives from trading in a clearinghouse regulated by the New York Federal Reserve, which Peterson blasted as “a tool of the big banks.”

A “tool” because the nine biggest banks in the derivatives market– including JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America– all met secretly to discuss how to use the lax regulation and institutional secrecy of the NY Fed to shield their credit-default swaps business from prying eyes and attempts at regulation, as the Times reports:

As the financial crisis entered one of its darkest phases in October, a handful of the nation’s largest banks began holding daily telephone sessions. Murmurs were already emanating from Washington about the need for a wide-ranging regulatory overhaul, and Wall Street executives girded for a fight.

Atop the agenda during their calls: how to counter an expected attempt to rein in credit-default swaps and other derivatives — the sophisticated and profitable financial instruments that were intended to limit risk but instead had helped take the economy to the brink of disaster.

What’s more, the banks formed a lobby– the CDS Dealers Consortium– only weeks after accepting TARP funds in October 2008 to protect its interests. Heading this effort is Edward Rosen, who previously helped fend off derivatives regulation. Rosen wrote and circulated a “confidential memo” to the ‘Treasury Department and leaders on Capital Hill’ making their agenda clear, the Times reported.

Rosen and his backers propose that derivatives be “traded in privately managed clearinghouses, with less disclosure,” according to the Times. The clearinghouse of choice for the big banks in Rosen’s CDS Consortium is ICE U.S. Trust, which is in turned regulated only by the Federal Reserve system.

Mr. Rosen’s confidential memo, dated Feb. 10 and obtained by The New York Times, recommended that the biggest participants in the derivatives market should continue to be overseen by the Federal Reserve Board. Critics say the Fed has been an overly friendly regulator, which is why big banks favor it.

Ironically, the Times notes, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, former president of the New York Federal Reserve, submitted a plan similar to Rosen’s, although Treasury officials stated the proposal was “independent.” Although Geithner vowed to make derivatives “more accountable”, critics say the emphasis on clearinghouses in the plan is a “major loophole” because ‘little disclosure would be required’ for any ‘customized’ swap.

It is clear that banks, who wanted their credit swaps to remain private, counted on the lack of transparency over Federal Reserve affairs to keep derivative affairs in the dark, thus enhancing their profit potential. It is further clear that Treasury Secretary Geithner intended to help them in that aim.

Senator Tom Harkin said the loophole “could be worth trillions and trillions of swaps,” blasting it as “a loophole big enough to drive a truck through.”

Derivatives are the bulk of the “toxic assets” TARP was set up to fight– and total an astounding $1.5 quadrillion in estimate.

REGULATING THE FEDERAL RESERVE

Bloomberg reported Friday that the “Fed’s Role in AIG May Be First Target of GAO Audit.” President Obama signed into law on May 20 a “Fed clause” giving the Government Accounting Office (GAO) the “power to examine the Federal Reserve’s emergency aid to specific companies, such as AIG, Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc.”

http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXLmKxJCk3fY&refer=home

The new law is designed to give the GAO access to records and people at the Fed’s Board of Governors in Washington as well as the 12 district banks, such as the New York Fed, which has been the government’s lead day-to-day supervisor of AIG.

Under what Bloomberg has called “war powers”, the Fed has issued “an unprecedented expansion of credit to nonbank financial firms… invoking emergency powers and doubling its assets the past year.”

The authority is notably only a half-measure. Bloomberg notes that it “doesn’t remove limits from a 1978 law that prohibits the GAO from peering into Fed activities involving monetary policy or discount-window loans to banks.”

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke stated he would have no objections to audits, so long as there was no examination of monetary policy. He stated clearly, “I certainly would resist any attempt to dictate to the Federal Reserve how to make monetary policy.”

Bloomberg makes a distinction from the “more intrusive” legislation introduced in the House by Ron Paul and in the Senate by Bernie Sanders. Those bills now have well over a hundred sponsors. Sanders was rebuffed by Ben Bernanke previously during TARP hearings after he demanded to know who the Fed lent money to and was told frankly, “No.”

Those bills, which haven’t made it past the initial stage of being introduced in Congress, would remove limits on GAO audits of the Fed and direct the agency to issue a report on the central bank by the end of next year.

Nevertheless, information about the meeting of the big banks shows that there is a desire to keep the Federal Reserve and its dealings quiet at a time when interest in the Fed’s actions is at an all-time high. Any move to bring accountability to that institution is positive, even if insufficient.

[Revolt426]

For the life of me, i cannot understand how Bernanke is still the chairmen of the FED...... this guy dodges critism and dumps it on Geithner (Although he is also a clown, he doesn't know what the hell he is doing)

[TahoeBlue]

For the life of me, i cannot understand how Bernanke is still the chairmen of the FED...... this guy dodges critism and dumps it on Geithner (Although he is also a clown, he doesn't know what the hell he is doing)

Bernanke wrote the books on Inflation and Depression

Now does everyone understand the reason that Bernanke was chosen to preside over this meltdown?

I was telling my friends two years ago it was a terribly bad sign that they had "chosen" an expert "authority" on the "great" depression and inflation.  They needed someone to manage perceptions while the smoke from downtown Rome began to rise. So far no one has really been blamed or gone to jail.
 
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/bloomberg/2008/03/23/148452/Fed-chair.htm

When Ben Bernanke arrived at the Federal Reserve in February 2006 as the new chairman of the central bank, he had a copy of his 2001 book, “Inflation Targeting: Lessons from the International Experience,” tucked under his arm.

Little did he know that less than two years later he’d be shelving “Inflation Targeting” and turning to “Essays on the Great Depression,” another of his books, for guidance.

Now they are paying attention (too late):
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-10-06-bernanke-depression-book_N.htm

The financial crisis has made Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's book Essays on the Great Depression a hot seller — at least by academic standards. He is practicing today what he preached in his book: Flood the system with money to avoid a depression.  The problem is they are creating the money but it doesn't seem to be getting to the money supply or isn't that the plan?

[Revolt426]

Bernanke is a Milton Friedman Quantitive Theory jackass. That is the entire reason for this bailout mess, "If there is deflation, print money - if there is inflation, stop printing money", Friedman's idiotic view of economics.

Bernanke to Milton Friedman on his death bed : "Yes, you are right , we did cause the Great Depression. But thanks to you, it will never happen again".

[TahoeBlue]

http://www.efinancialnews.com/tradingandtechnology/index/content/1054338569/restricted

Ice Trust takes off as Europe beckons
Shanny Basar and Tom Fairless
03 Jun 2009

Atlanta-based derivatives market IntercontinentalExchange reported a sharp increase in volumes at its US credit derivative clearing house last month, as it prepares to launch the system in Europe, where a rival venture has yet to clear any trades.

Drug/Money laundering HSBC gets it's place at the Trough

http://www.a-teamgroup.com/article/hsbc-usa-joins-ice-trust-as-a-clearing-member-for-cdss/

HSBC USA Joins ICE Trust as a Clearing Member for CDSs
27 May 2009      

IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) has added HSBC USA as a clearing member of its clearing counterparty (CCP) for the credit default swap (CDS) market, ICE Trust. The CCP, which launched on 9 March, was the first contender in the US market to receive regulatory approval from the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is currently planning to launch European operations later this year.

According to the CDS CCP, it has cleared 7,478 transactions, totalling US$646 billion of notional value and resulting in open interest of US$106 billion since its launch.

Gee, you think this game might be rigged?

http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=20092

02 June 2009 - 13:50
ICE Trust backers accused of freezing out rival CME-led clearing house

Major derivatives dealers have been accused of "filibustering" to protect their ogilopoly by withholding support from buy-side-friendly rivals to the InterContinental Exchange's credit default swaps clearing house.

The allegations have been made in an e-mail "note to dealers" sent by BlueMountain Capital COO Samuel Cole.

BlueMountain is one of six founding money management firms to have thrown their weight behind CMDX, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Citadel Investment joint venture that is looking to compete with ICE Trust. Other founding members include Pacific Investment Management, BlackRock, D E Shaw and AllianceBernstein.

ICE Trust launched in March with the backing of a collective of major Wall Street dealers and has so far handled up to $710 billion in credit-default swaps. CME, meanwhile, has been forced to keep its powder dry while it searches for sell-side partners prepared to bring their trades to CMDX.

Aware of the mounting disquiet, ICE Trust moved late last month to placate buy side participants by expanding its services to provide for margin segregation and account portability to firms who are not direct clearing members.

However, Cole believes the dealer community is not seriously engaged in working with the buy-side to develop a clearing solution. The e-mail - a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg - outlining his grievances was sent following a conference call of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association's credit steering committee and buy-side clearing working group.

"The dealers suggested more than once that there is room for only one solution in the market," Cole wrote, adding that they are "deriving substantially more economic value from their relationship with ICE than the six buy-side firms are from their relationship with CME".

"The stunned silence that you heard from buy-side firms on Friday's call was the disquieting realisation that the dealer community may be filibustering to protect its oligopoly" the e-mail continued. "I would urge the dealers to change course and work with us to build a viable clearing solution that is in the interest of the entire market."

Cole's criticisms coincide with the publication of a letter sent by global dealers and buy-side institutions to regulators worldwide committing to fundamental reforms in the over-the-counter markets.

The letter reiterates the industry's commitment to reducing systemic risk through the following actions:

• Implementing data repositories for non-cleared transactions in these markets to ensure appropriate transparency and disclosure, and to assist global supervisors with oversight and surveillance activities.

• Clearing for OTC standardized derivative products in these markets.

• Enabling customer access to clearing through either direct access as a clearing member or via indirect access, including the benefits of initial margin segregation and position portability.

• Delivering robust collateral and margining processes, including portfolio reconciliations, metrics on position and market value breaks, and improved dispute resolution mechanics.

• Updating industry governance to be more inclusive of buy-side participants.

• Continuing to drive improvement in industry infrastructure as well as to engage and partner with supervisors, globally, to expand upon the substantial improvements that have developed since 2005.


Royal Bank of Scotland plc Too!!!
http://ir.theice.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=387356

ICE Reports 11% Increase in Futures ADV for May 2009; CDS Clearing Surpasses $730 Billion in Notional Value

ATLANTA, June 2, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today reported total futures volume of 20.1 million contracts in May 2009, an increase of 6% from May 2008. Average daily volume (ADV) was 967,182 contracts for the month, up 11% over May 2008 ADV.
...
Additional May 2009 Information:

    --  Through May 29, ICE Trust(TM) has cleared $731 billion in notional value
        of CDS index contracts, resulting in $118 billion of open interest.
    --  The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and HSBC Bank USA became operational as
        clearing members of ICE Trust, bringing the total to 12 clearing
        members.

[TahoeBlue]

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2375523/
ICE Trust Surpasses $1 Trillion CDS Cleared; Weekly Record of $247 Billion Cleared
Mon. June 15, 2009; Posted: 03:01 PM

NEW YORK, June 15, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- ICE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today announced that ICE Trust U.S.(TM) (ICE Trust) has surpassed $1 trillion in cleared credit default swaps (CDS) since operations began on March 9, 2009. Open interest at ICE Trust currently stands at $145 billion, representing an 86% reduction in notional value outstanding. ICE Trust also set a weekly clearing record of $247 billion in notional value for the week ending June 12, on transaction volume of 2,330 contracts. Since launch, the total number of transactions cleared is 12,050.

ICE Trust is owned and operated by ICE and maintains an independent governance structure. The clearing house currently offers clearing for North American CDS indexes. The Federal Reserve and the New York State Banking Department have primary oversight responsibility for ICE Trust, which is also subject to oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to an exemptive order related to clearing CDS. ICE Trust also operates pursuant to exemptive relief from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and has provided information to the U.K. Financial Services Authority and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ICE continues to work closely with industry participants and regulators to expand clearing for buyside participants, add clearing for single-name instruments and deliver its European CDS clearing solution in the coming weeks.

[TahoeBlue]

http://ir.theice.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=450426

ICE Trust Marks One-Year Anniversary for North American CDS Clearing; Expanded Set of Initiatives in First Half 2010; $6.4 Trillion Cleared by ICE on a Global Basis

NEW YORK, March 9, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ -- IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today marked the one-year anniversary of the launch of ICE Trust U.S. (ICE Trust), the world's leading clearing house for credit default swaps (CDS).

ICE Trust began clearing North American CDS indexes (CDX) on March 9, 2009. Through March 5, 2010, ICE Trust cleared $4.3 trillion in gross notional value on more than 55 thousand transactions, covering 31 CDS indexes and 29 single-name reference entities. Open interest stands at $285 billion, a compression rate of more than 90% of ICE Trust's CDS volume.

"Clearing is an important step in the evolution of the credit derivatives market," said ICE Trust President Chris Edmonds. "With a significant amount of outstanding CDS cleared in its first year, ICE Trust has substantially increased the stability and transparency of the CDS market and contributed to the reduction of systemic risk."

"ICE Trust owes its success to the hard work and collaboration of market participants, regulators and colleagues across our company," said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, ICE Chairman and CEO. "I am grateful for their dedication, and we remain committed to expanding our successful suite of CDS services and capabilities."

ICE acquired Creditex, a credit derivatives industry leader in August 2008. Creditex's innovations include electronic CDS trading, credit event auctions and ICE Link, the CDS industry's leading affirmation and post-trade processing platform. ICE Link is connected to the major CDS dealers and over 400 buy-side firms, with links between CDS market participants, the DTCC Trade Information Warehouse and the ICE Trust and ICE Clear Europe CDS clearing houses.

On March 6, 2009, ICE completed its acquisition of The Clearing Corporation (TCC), which provides the risk management framework, operational processes and clearing infrastructure for ICE's CDS clearing houses. ICE Trust launched its first clearing cycle with 10 clearing members. Today, the clearing house has 13 clearing members and 10 active buy-side firms.

On December 14, ICE Trust began clearing CDS indexes for buy-side market participants. ICE's buy-side solution offers trade-date clearing, segregation of customer funds and position and margin portability. To date, buy-side transactions cleared by ICE Trust totaled $345 million in gross notional value. Also in December, ICE Trust became the first clearing house in North America to clear single-name CDS. Through March 5, ICE Trust members cleared $48 billion in gross notional value of single-name CDS transactions. ICE Trust expects to introduce buy-side clearing of single-name CDS in the second quarter of 2010.

In addition to clearing North American CDS through ICE Trust, ICE began clearing European CDS through its London-based clearing house, ICE Clear Europe, in July 2008.

ICE CDS Clearing Year One Achievements and Key Data

Development of technology and clearing infrastructure, combining CDS trading with the added protections afforded by a central clearing house -- all within the existing CDS market workflow.
Creation and stress testing of a CDS-specific risk model and risk management methodology, including a pricing algorithm based on a daily auction process with executable prices.
Advancement of a sound segregation and portability model designed to work with existing bankruptcy law to protect clients funds in the event of a default.
Establishment of the world's only dedicated CDS guaranty fund, with cash exceeding $3 billion as of December 31, 2009.
Cleared in aggregate $6.4 trillion in gross notional globally since March 2009.

Key Next Steps for First Half of 2010

Increase single-name CDS coverage by mid May to 85% and 60% of iTraxx and CDX constituents, respectively.
Begin clearing select sovereign CDS through ICE Clear Europe.
Provide enhanced risk and pricing tools for clearing participants and members.
Launch buy-side clearing in Europe.
Backload buy-side positions for single-name CDS in both North America and Europe.

ICE CDS Clearing Timeline

March 9, 2009: ICE Trust begins clearing North American CDS indexes (CDX), with $7.1 billion in gross notional value in its first weekly clearing cycle.
June 12, 2009: ICE Trust surpasses $1 trillion in gross notional value cleared
July 27, 2009: ICE Clear Europe begins clearing indexes (iTraxx).
September 11, 2009: ICE Trust surpasses $2 trillion in gross notional value cleared.
December 4, 2009: ICE Trust surpasses $3 trillion in gross notional value cleared.
December 14, 2009: ICE Trust begins clearing buy-side CDX transactions.
December 14, 2009: ICE Clear Europe begins clearing single-names.
December 21, 2009: ICE Trust begins clearing single-names.
January 22, 2010: ICE CDS clearing reaches $5 trillion on a global basis; ICE Clear Europe CDS clearing crosses euro 1 trillion.
February 19, 2010: ICE CDS clearing surpasses $6 trillion on a global basis; ICE Trust reaches $4 trillion in gross notional value.

[TahoeBlue]

https://www.theice.com/ice_trust.jhtml

ICE Trust is a limited purpose trust company that serves as a central clearing facility for credit default swaps (CDS). Membership in ICE Trust is open to institutions that meet objective financial and eligibility standards.

As a New York Trust Company and a member of the Federal Reserve System, ICE Trust is subject to direct regulation and supervision by the Federal Reserve and the New York State Banking Department. Subject to compliance with certain conditions, ICE Trust operates under an exemption from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Treasury Department.


https://www.theice.com/publicdocs/clear_us/ICE_Trust_Overview.pdf
• ICE Trust clearing members are Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman
Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, RBS and UBS

• As of April 20, 2010 ICE Trust has cleared more than $4.9 trillion notional across more than 85 unique CDS index
and single-name contracts; this includes over $500 million in buyside trades cleared since December 2009


http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009093923/look-back-anger-wall-st-insiderism-oligopoly-and-threat-democ
LOOK BACK IN ANGER: WALL STREET INSIDERISM, OLIGOPOLY, & THE THREAT TO DEMOCRACY PART I
September 22, 2009
By William Neil

Dear Citizens and Elected Officials:

...


In the great regulatory debate about how and where derivatives, especially Credit Default Swaps (CDSs), will be brought under greater public control, another term is tossed out: clearinghouse. In the most abstract sense, exchanges have clearinghouses as a technical subsidiary operation, finishing trades, settling accounts and enforcing the margins under the ground rules set by the parent body exchange. The other term tossed around in this debate is “over-the-counter” derivative trades which have taken place between the brokers and private parties and aren’t formally controlled either by a clearinghouse or an exchange.

In the derivative reform debate in Congress, the Obama Administration, in the person of Secretary of the Treasure Timothy Geithner, wants CDSs regulated through clearinghouses, which is what the large banks want – and they’re first out of the gate with their Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s ICE Trust, to do just that.

Congressional reformers, however, like Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, want them regulated on exchanges. Gary Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs alum who was appointed by President Obama to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, seems to be doing a straddle by blurring the distinction between exchange and clearinghouse, and also leaving the door open to have “customized” derivatives left to the unregulated over-the-counter trades, which would be just fine by the major banks. The fight over exchange vs. clearinghouse is not all semantics however.

 On an exchange, the prices would be more readily available to the whole public, transparent, in other words, and that would reduce the margins between the “asking and offer” price – which is kept by the owners of the exchange.

In this debate, which is quickly buried in the mechanics of how to regulate the huge derivatives market, most of which is now over-the-counter and is estimated to be about $600 trillion dollars at face or nominal value – give or take a $100 trillion or so – what is being forgotten is a very important question: who owns the basic trading platforms, whether they are exchanges or clearinghouses?

This writer’s deeper worry is that the actual ownership of these platforms calls for at minimum a “no conflicts of interest” for- profit ownership, or a public utilities/nonprofit one – and that by allowing the banks and brokerages which also trade directly in the instruments under scrutiny – they may be able to gain insider advantages. And also there is the trend towards the big players, the remaining large banks and brokerages, to move, as in almost all other areas of economic life today, towards oligopoly itself: greater and greater concentration of power in fewer and fewer hands.

This is not, if my readers will forgive me, a matter of purely speculative concern. On July 14, 2009, Matthew Leising wrote the story “Credit Swaps Investigated by U.S. Justice Department,” on Bloomberg.com. The entity being investigated is the Markit Group Ltd., which “provides derivative and bond data to more than 1,500 customers.

It owns the most actively traded credit swap indexes and pricing services in the market, which represents $28 trillion in underlying securities, according to the New York-based Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation.”

And who owns Depository? Well, once again it’s the major players… the NYSE…other exchanges, banks, brokerages…

And who owns Markit? Starting with the largest shareholder, JPMorgan owns 1.67 million shares, then Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and Goldman Sachs comes in at 1.11 million out of a total of 14.38 million. And these four banks, plus Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, UBS, and some others, are the controlling owners of the ICE trust which has broken through to be the front runner for handling the CDSs.

(Leising is upfront in his article: Bloomberg.com “competes with Markit in selling information to the financial-services industry.”) But you can see my worries here.

Now the reason the Justice Department has sent out “civil investigation notices” to the major bank owners of Markit is to see if “they have unfair access to price information…”

Leising quotes former JPMorgan Chase & Co. investment banker and author of House of Cards

William Cohan on the investigation: “‘The fact that they control Markit and it provides information about the prices of credit-default swaps and they’ve benefited from this for many years without any challenge or investigation was outrageous.’” (Leising, July 14th at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahcdJoyFIDsk ; Leising also wrote another article about the investigation on July 16, at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aEV5G0CvyY8A

[citizenx]

Unfortunately, it's "deck chairs on the Titanic" at this point.  There will be no "soft landing" for the Interest Rate Derivatives (and perhps the "Derivatives" market as a whole -- though Interest Rate Derivatives at over 600 trilllion represent the lion's share.)

The future damage has already been done.  It is too big to "fix."

"Command economy" is rather inevitable under the cirumstances (I am not saying that is a good thing.  Far from it.) We have largely already seen this put into place as well.  Some estimate total control over the econnomy by the government is presently at 51%  -- inclduing gov't.  investment/seizure of banks, GM and its foray into healthcare.  Gov't.  was already 15-20% of the economy before this recent financial crisis. (I am not saying the 5% figure is accurate necessarily, but I think it is going to be if it isn't now.)

I think we need to see beyond reform at this point.  There is not necessarily an alternative way to head off this crisis.  We need to plan to reign in the wild elephant that is now running amok -- government.  Then we can hope to re-establish free enterprise and market economy.

I think things are too late already to use the legislative process to prevetn this bubble from bursting.  Bubbles have to burst, like an old blister.  The truth must out for any progress to take place.  The entire world economy is a lie.

It doesn't even matter which party gets in power this fall.  Both parties have overseeen the growth of this market and are responsble for its development.  Neither can or would necessarily fix the system even if they could.

A real socialist/communist revolution has taken place.  We have been duped. We need to be preparing for counter-revolution IMO.

But if anybody has any "eleventh hour" ideas for how our present gov'y. can/should respond to this situation, I'd like to hear them. I for one promise to be kind.  They couldn't possibly hurt.  I think many of us agree with Tahoe's analysis, but don't necessarily know what to do about it.

People say, "well, if it's going to happen, there's nothing we can do about it anyway."  Even for most of the economically informed, this is a very human response. Once we're able to gey others to understand the real economic situation, we have to have a concrete plan to offer them, or it all doesn't matter really.

I think the case has been amply demonstrated.  Now I'd like to hear some plans.

[TahoeBlue]

bump for buying NYSE ~

RIP NYSE? - German Merge With Nyse, Toronto Exchange Merge With London

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/20/nyse-sold-8bn-intercontinentalexchange
New York Stock Exchange sold to derivatives company in $8bn takeover
20 December 2012

Sale of nearly 200-year-old institution to Intercontinental Exchange comes amid historic shift to electronic trading

The New York Stock Exchange called time on two centuries of independence on Thursday, agreeing to an $8.2bn takeover that will hand control of the icon of American capitalism to an Atlanta-based energy trader.

The stock exchange's holding company, NYSE Euronext, has agreed to an offer of $33.12 a share in cash and stock from IntercontinentalExchange (ICE). ICE was founded in 2000, NYSE in 1817. The combined company would have headquarters in both ICE's home of Atlanta and in New York.

The takeover comes amid a historic shift for Wall Street and stock exchanges around the world. The move to electronic trading, fierce competition between exchanges and the sharp decline in trading commissions has led to a wave of mergers and takeover offers that have failed amid regulatory concerns.
...

[jofortruth]

Now does everyone understand the reason that Bernanke was chosen to preside over this meltdown?

Yes, we do! He was placed in the position as the expert on DEPRESSIONS, etc and achieve exactly what they have achieved  - THE IMPLOSION OF THE ECONOMY! In fact, he admitted the Federal Reserve caused the GREAT DEPRESSION!

Some interesting comments on the Great Depression on the occasion of Milton Friedmans BD (YES! THE FEDERAL RESERVE CAUSED IT!)
http://www.federalreserve.gov/BOARDDOCS/SP...108/default.htm
http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Decep...=0#entry5131926

"Bernanke admitted at the University of Chicago birthday bash for Milton Friedman that the Great Depression was engineered - Fed Contracted the money supply..."

The maker of "Moneymasters" talks about this here:(Go to Oct 17, 2008 listen to Carmack at around time 2:00)
http://infowars.com/wp-content/audio/200810.html
http://www.gcnlive.com/programs/alexJones/archives.php

[kerrymti]

bump...RIP  NYSE

[TahoeBlue]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gershom_Mendes_Seixas
Gershom Mendes Seixas (1745–1816) was the first native-born Jewish minister in the United States. He was the minister of Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York from 1768 to 1776 and again from 1784 to 1816. Although not an ordained Rabbi, he served as Hazzan and Minister to the Congregation and was among the first Jewish communal leaders who was born and educated in the United States. He was also the first American Jewish clergyman to give a sermon in English.


The Seixas family has contributed many prominent Americans ...
Brother Benjamin Mendes (1748-1817), was one of the founders of the New York Stock Exchange


http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/hottopic/stock_market.html

The history of the New York Stock Exchange begins with the signing of the Buttonwood Agreement by twenty-four New York City stockbrokers and merchants on May 17, 1792, outside at 68 Wall Street under a Buttonwood tree.

In the beginning there were five securities traded in New York City with the first listed company on the NYSE being the Bank of New York.

The 24 brokers who signed the agreement, thus becoming the first NYSE members were:

Leonard Bleecker
Hugh Smith
Armstrong & Barnewall 
Samuel March 
Bernard Hart
Alexander Zuntz 
Andrew D. Barclay
Sutton & Hardy
Benjamin Seixas
John Henry
John A. Hardenbrook 
Samuel Beebe
Benjamin Winthrop 
John Ferrers 
Ephraim Hart 
Isaac M. Gomez 
Gulian McEvers 
Augustine H. Lawrence 
G. N. Bleecker
John Bush 
Peter Anspach 
Charles McEvers, Jr. 
David Reedy 
Robinson & Hartshorne 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tontine_Coffee_House
The Tontine Coffee House was a New York City coffee house established in early 1793. Situated on the north-west corner of Wall and Water Street,[1][2] it was built by a group of brokers to serve as a meeting place for trade and correspondence.

The May 17, 1792, creation of the Buttonwood Agreement, which bound its signatories to trade only with each other, effectively gave rise to a new organisation of tradespeople
...
The coffee house also provided a place for the registration of ship cargo and the trading of slaves
...
Trading at the Tontine Coffee House continued until 1817.[11] The growth of the Tontine's trade proceedings had effected the creation of the New York Stock and Exchange Board (NYSEB) and necessitated a larger venue...