JPMorgan's Frankfurt office searched as part of German probe

Wednesday August 31, 2022 09:56, Kitco News

LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - German authorities have searched the Frankfurt offices of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), a bank spokesperson confirmed, as long-running investigations into one of the country's biggest financial scandals affected another global lending giant.

The share-trading scandal known as "cum-ex", which has blighted German political and financial circles for several years, has cost taxpayers billions of euros, lawmakers claim.

A large number of banks have been searched by prosecutors investigating possible wrongdoing, with raids being conducted on the German branches of Barclays (BARC.L), Bank of America and Morgan Stanley in recent months.

Government officials say the investigation involves some 100 banks on four continents and at least 1,000 suspects.

"We can confirm that our Frankfurt offices were visited this week. We continue to cooperate with the German authorities on their ongoing investigation," a JPMorgan spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.

Prosecutors in Cologne have been especially aggressive in pursuing the case. A representative told Reuters earlier this month it was currently investigating 50 international and domestic financial institutions and brokers.

A spokesman for Cologne prosecutors confirmed to Bloomberg News, which first reported JPMorgan's involvement, that a search was taking place in Frankfurt but declined to identify the target.

Bankers and investors participating in the scheme, also known as dividend stripping, would swiftly trade shares of companies around their dividend payout day, blurring stock ownership and allowing multiple parties to falsely reclaim tax rebates on dividends.

In the first major criminal trial for the fraud, two British bankers were handed suspended jail terms, and one was given a 14-million-euro penalty in Germany two years ago.

Another banker, a former employee of M.M. Warburg [M = 13] group, part-owned by one of Germany's oldest banking dynasties, was handed a 3-1/2 year jail sentence in February for his part in the scandal.

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-08-31/JPMorgan-s-Frankfurt-office-searched-as-part-of-German-probe.html

Congressman Criticizes U.S. Mint’s Management of Silver American Eagle Program, Demands Answers

Fri, August 26, 2022 at 5:00 PM

Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) is calling out U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. Mint Director Ventris Gibson for the "long-running production slowdown" in the Silver American Eagle bullion coin program that has caused "shortages and dramatically higher market prices for this iconic silver coin as compared to its peers worldwide."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/congressman-criticizes-u-mint-management-000000118.html

The Federal Reserve & The Treasury just merged into a single organization

March 28, 2020 11:06 am by IWB

Treasury Dollar in the pipeline ?

From the article:

In other words, the Federal government is nationalizing large swaths of the financial markets.

The Fed is providing the money to do it.

400 billion in liquidity from the Fed = Mnuchin SEIZED the Fed assets.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/the-federal-reserve-the-treasury-just-merged-into-a-single-organization/

LBMA Silver Inventories fall to a near 6 Year Low below 1 billion ounces

27 Jul 2022 11:05

Over the exactly 6 year period since monthly LBMA silver inventory data was first published in July 2016, there has never before been a 7 month period (nor a 6 month period) in which the LBMA silver holdings fell consistently each and every month.

The only partially comparable time period across the data series was when LBMA silver holdings fell consistently in each of 5 months between April and August 2020, and that was during the LBMA – COMEX (Exchange for Physical (EFP)) crisis when the LBMA bullion banks in panic mode were forced to transport huge amounts of silver (and gold) bars from the LBMA London vaults to the COMEX vaults in New York to meet the delivery requirements on futures contracts so as to prevent gold and silver prices moving into real price discovery mode.

https://www.bullionstar.com/blogs/ronan-manly/lbma-silver-inventories-fall-to-a-near-6-year-low-below-1-billion-ounces/

is the Treasury hording silver in preparation for a return to silver (and possibly gold) backed currency? cranking up the price of Ag Eagles would discourage their purchase and encourage the purchase of foreign coins, conserving domestic silver and pulling in foreign silver, wouldn't it?

is the Treasury pulling silver off COMEX directly and LBME indirectly via standing for deliveries with futures contracts?

Silver Is The Achilles Heel That Brings Down The Rigged System

October 16, 2020

https://www.silverdoctors.com/headlines/world-news/silver-is-the-achilles-heel-that-brings-down-the-rigged-system/

>>17471000