HSBC restricts withdrawls, UST steals 401Ks, and Jamie gets a Raise!!

A little more Financial News for your Saturday morning read.

First up, HSBC is showing a lovely bit of transparency. 


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-24/bank-run-fears-continue-hsbc-restricts-large-cash-withdrawals

Bank-Run Fears Continue; HSBC Restricts Large Cash Withdrawals

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2014 21:31 -0500

• China

inShare12

 

Following research last week suggesting that HSBC has a major capital shortfall, the fact that several farmer's co-ops were unable to pay back depositors in China, and, of course, the liquidity crisis in China itself, news from The BBC that HSBC is imposing restrictions on large cash withdrawals raising a number of red flags. The BBC reports that some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it. HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of the change in policy, which was implemented in November for their own good: "We ask our customers about the purpose of large cash withdrawals when they are unusual... the reason being we have an obligation to protect our customers, and to minimise the opportunity for financial crime." As one customer responded: "you shouldn't have to explain to your bank why you want that money. It's not theirs, it's yours."

Via The BBC,

Some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it, the BBC has learnt.

Listeners have told Radio 4's Money Box they were stopped from withdrawing amounts ranging from £5,000 to £10,000.

HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of the change in policy, which was implemented in November.

The bank says it has now changed its guidance to staff.

...

"When we presented them with the withdrawal slip, they declined to give us the money because we could not provide them with a satisfactory explanation for what the money was for. They wanted a letter from the person involved."

Mr Cotton says the staff refused to tell him how much he could have: "So I wrote out a few slips. I said, 'Can I have £5,000?' They said no. I said, 'Can I have £4,000?' They said no. And then I wrote one out for £3,000 and they said, 'OK, we'll give you that.' "

He asked if he could return later that day to withdraw another £3,000, but he was told he could not do the same thing twice in one day.

...

Mr Cotton cannot understand HSBC's attitude: "I've been banking in that bank for 28 years. They all know me in there. You shouldn't have to explain to your bank why you want that money. It's not theirs, it's yours."

...

HSBC has said that following customer feedback, it was changing its policy: "We ask our customers about the purpose of large cash withdrawals when they are unusual and out of keeping with the normal running of their account. Since last November, in some instances we may have also asked these customers to show us evidence of what the cash is required for."

"The reason being we have an obligation to protect our customers, and to minimise the opportunity for financial crime. However, following feedback, we are immediately updating guidance to our customer facing staff to reiterate that it is not mandatory for customers to provide documentary evidence for large cash withdrawals, and on its own, failure to show evidence is not a reason to refuse a withdrawal. We are writing to apologise to any customer who has been given incorrect information and inconvenienced."

...

But Eric Leenders, head of retail at the British Bankers Association, said banks were sensible to ask questions of their customers: "I can understand it's frustrating for customers. But if you are making the occasional large cash withdrawal, the bank wants to make sure it's the right way to make the payment."

The arrogance is incredible...

BBC Coverage HERE

It Begins! FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FORCING EMPLOYEES 401K FUNDS INTO TREASURIES!

Those who have been delaying moving their retirement funds out of the system on the account of early withdrawal taxes may want to take notice.
If the official notification an SD reader from the TSP has just received is any indication, it appears that our prediction of forced movement of 401k, IRA, private & public pension funds into US Treasury bonds has begun.
As can be clearly seen via the document below, the retired former employee of the Social Security Administration has received official notice that his entire 401k has been moved from where he allocated it into US treasury bonds without his prior notification or permission!...

Hey Doc,
I just heard from a friend of mine that who worked for the Social Security Administration for a few years that his entire 401k has been moved from where he allocated it into US treasury bonds.
He just received his annual statement that shows all of his funds have been moved, without his permission or even notice!
This is what Max Keiser and Jim Sinclair have been predicting for over a year now. As far as I know, thus far this has only been applied to non-active employees, but it looks like the tip of the iceberg, and smacks of desperation. I thought you guys could take a look at this. Silver Dragon

Click HERE to go to the original article and to view the Letters


And oh the currency markets are seriously FUBAR!! 

...Emerging currencies were battered overnight, with Argentina's peso suffering its steepest daily decline since the country's devastating 2002 financial crisis, as the central bank gave up its fight against the unit's decline.

The Turkish lira slipped 0.1 percent to 2.295 per dollar, not far from a record low of 2.2588 set on Thursday.

On top of that, the Federal Reserve is expected to continue to dial back its bond purchases when it meets next week after U.S. jobless claims data reflected an acceptable, if underwhelming, pace of job growth - heaping more pressure on emerging-country currencies.

The Indian rupee fell to a two-week low of 62.27 to the dollar, while the Indonesian rupiah fell as low as 12,180 per dollar, also hitting a two-week trough.

YAHOO original article HERE


From an article I wrote in November:

Bigger than Libor? Forex probe hangs over banks

Yet another dark cloud is looming over global banks as officials examine their behavior in the massive foreign exchange market, threatening to deal a new blow to earnings and reputations.

Regulators in the U.S., Europe and Asia are in the early stages of investigating whether traders at the world's top banks manipulated foreign exchange benchmarks to profit at the expense of their clients.
...London is the center of the loosely regulated foreign exchange market, the biggest in the world's financial system with average daily turnover of $5.3 trillion.
Proven abuse in this market would have a significant ripple effect, exposing offending firms to a host of legal action.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/20/investing/forex-probe-lawyers/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

OH and Jamie Dimon gets..... A RAISE!!

JPMorgan Chase handed chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon a scandalous 74% raise — even though the investment bank was forced to shell out some $20 billion in legal settlements for a flurry of fiascoes in 2013.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/p-morgan-raise-james-dimon-pay-20-million-article-1.1590425

Yes Jamie is now making $20 MILLION!!!  WOW!  I wonder how that works?   JPMorgan pays out $20BILLION and Jamie now gets $20 MILLION?  Isn't that sorta like reverse profit sharing?