The banks never pay
The demonstrators in the City of London smashed the windows of the Royal Bank of Scotland. From inside the bank, bank officials threw out some banknotes, hoping to calm down the crowd. Instead, it infuriated them even more. This gesture is somehow symbolic of the crisis itself. The banks have the money, they make the money and they can therefore give the money away. We are constantly being told that if the banks fail, then the entire system will fail. In other words, the banks are the system. They are immune to fraud. If their top managers steal, particularly in Italy, then they are rewarded. They are the guarantors of the funding granted to lobby groups, to the political parties and to Confindustria.
The bank thefts are always within the law. In Italy, there is no such thing as class action. How many of the banks would still be going if they had been obliged to reimburse all of the people defrauded by Parmalat and the Tango Bonds? The banks were well aware that the shares had lost all of their value and so, in order to get rid of them, they sold them to their customers, current account holders and investment funds right up until the day before the crash. The leading bankers knew all about the Argentine default and the Parmalat crash.
The banks are organisations with unlimited irresponsibility. Mediobanca, which is quoted on the Stock Exchange, is the case in point of the Italian financial system. The Bank’s President, Cesare Geronzi is under investigation for the Parmalat crash, for aggravated usury and for collusion in fraudulent bankruptcy. In the case of the Cirio crash, he is under investigation for fraud in terms of the issuing and distribution of Cirio bonds through Capitalia. In the case of the Italcase crash, he was found guilty of fraudulent bankruptcy and sentenced to one year and 8 months imprisonment, as well as being banned from holding directorships in any company for a period of two years. The Deputy President of Mediobanca, on the other hand, is none other than the Tronchetti of unhappiness. What a pair! Truly an added guarantee for the depositors, are’nt they?
The banks never pay, yet they always cash in. Italy is a nation founded on the power of the banks. In order to protect the interests of the Italian citizens, I will be publishing a list of “Wanted” Bank Managers. This list should appear on the homepage of the Ministry for the Economy and the ABI (Italian Bankers Association) websites. Everyone could then choose their preferred bank on the basis of the characteristics of its top managers. Fraud, extortion, bankruptcy and issuing worthless bonds. Isn’t it better to know beforehand how you will be losing your savings?
Joining me recently at the European Parliament was none other than Attorney Roberto Vassalle, the terror of the Italian banks against whom he has instituted hundreds of winning court cases. The time has come to ask yourself certain questions, such as: “Why is it that the people running the banks are millionaires while their customers are losing their money?” and “who are the real customers of these leading bankers?”
They may never give up (is it in their interests?), but neither will we.
Posted by Beppe Grillo at 02:59 PM in Economics
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Dear Beppe: The problem with banks is the level of powr we the people have allowed them to have. Here in the U.S.A., we have what we call non-profit Credit Union Banks that provide the same banking services and gurantees as large international banks. Because they are non-profit they return all profits from loans and fees etc... to their customers via higher savings rates and lower loan interest. As you gather your strenght in numbers of like minded italians, you can put the fear of God into the banks by opening your own non-profit credit union. With a tremendous following you would immediately become the largest bank in Italy. I have the same idea here. I want to take essential businesses such as banks, insurance, etc... and make them into employ owned companies where the goal is to redistribute the profits back to the customers and owners of the business. The management can make a good salary as well as the employees. I would eliminate the ability to issue stock from these companies to avois the manipulations by Wal Street. Power to the people not the government or the greedy.
Posted by: Robert Pollari | April 10, 2009 06:11 PM
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch.html
Bill Moyers interviews William K.Black
interesting video about the causes behind the economic crisis..a must see!!
Posted by: Alex M | April 6, 2009 03:26 AM
Hello all. I speak about this as an ex banker who worked in the City of London for more than 12 years before deciding to come back to Italy to contribute to progress with my own experiences abroad.
The stock option system is basically wrong because it is based on the appreciation of the stock price. Hence the CEO of a company will do anything he can in order to increase the share price...we all know that...he will fire people, he will move production where unions are non existent....this is wrong...it's true. But if this system exists it is also because at the low end of the chain there are people (the typical mr john) who buys a few shars of that company and wants to make money out of it.
The majority of people are greedy. I agree that it is NOT fair that people who lead so many other people to lose money are millionairs.....but what about the thousands of financial advisers (ie PROMOTORI FINANZIARI) in Italy who have been recommending these things to people? These are the same people who were still recommending internet stocks in 2001!!!!!!....what about the BORSINO in the small bank in Italy who has to place bonds to normal people because these are the orders coming from the banks headquarters?....he is not forced to do so but he does it. He could have said and he could say no! I used to say NO to silly operations when I was in banking!
More controls are necessary, but I would also push for more programs on TV or more articles on magazines whereby people who know what they are talking about and ABOVE ALL are independent from everything and everyone, explain how things work, how risky is to invest in certain things and how risky is, in the majority of cases, to follow advices from financial advisers who have no clue about how the markets work and have no courahe neither hav the sensibility not to recommend stupid things to poor investors.
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea Libardo | April 5, 2009 08:11 PM
Ciao Beppe
Bank officials in London did not throw money to the demonstrators breaking into the bank. In fact traders on the stock exchange and other "city" workers waved £10 notes to taunt the protesters!
John
Posted by: john smith | April 4, 2009 11:17 PM
Ciao Beppe
Bank officials did not throw money to the demonstrators breaking into the bank. In fact traders on the stock exchange and other "city" workers waved £10 notes to taunt the protesters!
John
Posted by: john smith | April 4, 2009 11:15 PM