Swiss UBS Banks gets Coal for Christmas

Well since 1995 Transparency International has been grading corruption in all countries.  At the head of the class Sweden has always been at the top coming in 4th place in 2011 with a score of 9.3, that is excellent. I mean even during WWII Hitler went around Sweden, why? Germany was already receiving iron ore from Sweden on a cash and carry basis. Germany also needed a neutral country as a conduit for goods and foreign currency, and a stage for negotiations and an outlet to the world. As bizarre as it sounds, some goods and materials were purchased by neutral 3rd countries from Allied nations (the US for example) and sold to the Germans via Sweden. Traditionally a neutral country for over 200 years and Hitler did not want to bother Sweden when he already had Norway, a more strategically located nation.

Being neutral does have advantages but will also get you in trouble working with the wrong partners as is happening for Swiss Bank UBS. For example, the Swiss bank had agreed in 2009 to pay $780 million to settle charges that it had helped clients avoid taxes. Wednesday, Dec 19th UBS announced it would plead guilty to one count of felony wire fraud as part of a broader settlement. With federal prosecutors, British, Swiss and American regulators secured about $1.5 billion in fines, more than triple the only other rate-rigging case, against Barclays, their first Libor (rate-rigging) settlement, a $450 million payout. The Justice Department said two former UBS senior traders, Tom Alexander William Hayes, 33, of Britain, and Roger Darin, 41, of Switzerland, will be charged with conspiracy, while Hayes also will be charged with wire fraud in New York federal court. Justice Department officials said they believed the two men were in Britain and Switzerland and would be seeking their extradition.

Lanny A. Breuer

“We are holding those who did wrong accountable,” Lanny A. Breuer, the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said at a news conference on Wednesday. “We cannot, and we will not tolerate misconduct on Wall Street.”
By securing a guilty plea against a subsidiary, the department has shown that it is willing to punish severely one of the world’s most powerful banks. Fallout from the UBS case is expected to increase pressure on some of the world’s largest financial institutions and spur settlement talks across the banking industry. UBS said some of its personnel had "engaged in efforts to manipulate submissions for certain benchmark rates to benefit trading positions" and that some employees had "colluded with employees at other banks and cash brokers to influence certain benchmark rates to benefit their trading positions."
Britain's financial regulator called the misconduct by UBS "extensive and broad," with the rate-fixing carried out from UBS offices in London and Zurich.The most significant wrongdoing took place within the Japanese unit, where traders colluded with other banks and brokerage firms to tinker with yen-denominated Libor and bolster their returns.

Since Thanksgiving, UBS has tried to negotiate lower penalties with the regulator, according to people briefed on the matter. But David Meister, the agency’s enforcement chief, would not back down from $700 million in fines, an agency record.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission cited more than 2,000 instances of illegal acts involving dozens of UBS employees across continents.

Gary S. Gensler

“The settlement reflects the magnitude of the wrongdoing and how critical it is that these be honest and reliable,” said Gary S. Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the American regulator that opened the UBS investigation.
The Royal Bank of Scotland has said it expects to pay fines before its next earnings statement in February, while American institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, also remain in regulators’ cross hairs.

Sergio Ermotti

"We deeply regret this inappropriate and unethical behavior. No amount of profit is more important than the reputation of this firm," said UBS Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti.

Well, I guess Santa is coming to town to mop up and for Sweden's grade for Transparency I guess this will cut down some, looks like we are going to change even if you are too big to fail. Good People of Earth have had enough and the pressure is ON!

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