RON PAUL: "NOTHING TO FEAR FROM GLOBAL CURRENCY" C-SPAN 3/13/2001

ROTHSCHILD AND ROCKEFELLER FAMILIES TEAM UP FOR SOME EXTRA WEALTH CREATION

The Rothschild and Rockefeller families have teamed up to buy assets from banks and other distressed sellers in a union between two of the best-known names in financial history.

By Alistair Osborne, Business Editor 30 May 2012

RIT Capital Partners, which is chaired by Lord Rothschild, has taken a 37pc stake in Rockefeller Financial Services, the family’s wealth advisory and asset management wing. It has snapped up the holding from French bank Société Générale for less than £100m.

The transatlantic alliance cements a five-decade acquaintance between the now ennobled Jacob Rothschild, 76, and David Rockefeller, 96, the grandson of the ruthlessly acquisitive American oilman and philanthropist John D Rockefeller.

The two patricians now plan to capitalise on their family names to buy other asset managers or their portfolios, using their networks of top-notch contacts to ensure they get a seat at the table for any deal.

“We’ve known each other for a long time, they have a good business,” said Lord Rothschild yesterday. “We haven’t got a presence in the US and this brings together two formidable names in finance.”

He said the two firms planned to capitalise on current market conditions where banks, like SocGen in this instance, are selling non-core assets to rebuild capital ratios. “At a time when big banks are destabilised, there may well be opportunities,” he said. “We could buy an asset management company or grow one. Rockefeller already has $34bn (£21.9bn) assets under administration.”

He said David Rockefeller was still “very involved” in the business, though it is run day to day by chief executive Reuben Jeffery.
The Rockefeller group goes back to 1882, set up to invest the family money made by John D Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, the forerunner for today’s Exxon Corporation, which he built with a Darwinian aggression. “Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It’s to see my dividends coming in,” he once said.
The Rothschild banking dynasty has its roots in the 18th century when Mayer Amschel Rothschild set up a business in Frankfurt.
Lord Rothschild fell out three decades ago with his cousin Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, who then ran the UK branch of the family bank NM Rothschild. That sprang to fame in 1815 when it bought government bonds in anticipation of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.
Lord Rothschild’s relations with the French side of the family have been better though and he likened the Rockefeller deal to RIT’s tie-up earlier this year with the Edmond de Rothschild Group, which has €150bn (£120bn) under management.
“We think that having that span of interests in Europe and America – as well as China – will give us a better chance of finding exceptional investment opportunities,” he said.
RIT, which has net assets £1.9bn, has had a tricky few months with the shares down about 14pc in the past year. They fell 6 today to £11.25.
Lord Rothschild said: “Everyone has been marked down. We didn’t have a brilliant year on the quoted side but we did do very well on the private side,” realising investments in North Sea operator Agora Oil and Gas and credit manager Harbourmaster.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9300784/Rothschild-and-Rockefeller-families-team-up-for-some-extra-wealth-creation.html

GEORGE SOROS SAYS GERMANY HAS THREE MONTHS TO SAVE THE EUROZONE

George Soros, the billionaire investor, has warned Germany it has three months to save the eurozone or risk the destruction of the European Union and a “lost decade”.

George Soros, the billionaire investor, said Germany would do the least required to save the euro Photo: AP

By Angela Monaghan, Economics Correspondent 03 Jun 2012

Speaking at a conference in Italy Mr Soros said the eurozone’s fate lay firmly with Germany, which he urged to agree to measures which would help the region’s ailing banking system and ease borrowing costs among the most troubled member states.

“In my judgment the authorities have a three months’ window during which they could still correct their mistakes and reverse the current trends,” he said.

“By the authorities I mean mainly the German government and the Bundesbank because in a crisis the creditors are in the driver’s seat and nothing can be done without German support.

“In the 1980’s Latin America suffered a lost decade; a similar fate now awaits Europe. That is the responsibility that Germany and the other creditor countries need to acknowledge.”

Mr Soros, who famously made $1bn betting against the pound in 1992, said the Greek crisis would come to a head this autumn.

He argued that although Greek voters were likely on June 17 to elect a government prepared to abide by the austerity terms required to qualify for future bailout funds, the terms would ultimately prove impossible to meet.
“No government can meet the conditions so the Greek crisis is liable to come to a climax in the fall. By that time the German economy will also be weakening so that Chancellor Merkel will find it even more difficult than today to persuade the German public to accept any additional European responsibilities. That is what creates a three months’ window.”
Arguing that the eurozone crisis “threatens to destroy the European Union”, he said the region’s banks would need a European deposit scheme in order to stem the capital flight already evident.
He also supported Spain’s call for the banks to be able to access direct financing from the European Stability Mechanism, the bailout fund, and said heavily indebted countries would need relief on their financing costs.
There are various ways to provide it but they all need the active support of the Bundesbank and the German government.”
Spanish borrowing costs have spiked to unsustainable highs during the crisis while German borrowing costs are at record lows as investors rush to place their money in the safest place.
France, Italy and Spain are in favour of the introduction of so-called eurobonds, which would essentially pool the debt of all eurozone members, spreading risk, but Germany is strongly opposed to the idea.
Mr Soros said that while an orderly break-up of the euro could be possible “in a few years’ time”, the likelihood was that it would survive because a collapse would come at too high a price for Germany.
He said Germany would be left with large unenforceable claims against the periphery countries, with the Bundesbank alone having over a trillion euros of claims against other central banks by the end of this year.
“So Germany is likely to do what is necessary to preserve the euro – but nothing more.” He said Europe would ultimately become “a German empire with the periphery as the hinterland.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9308964/George-Soros-says-Germany-has-three-months-to-save-the-eurozone.html

LORD ROTHSCHILD TAKES £130M BET AGAINST THE EURO

Lord Rothschild has taken a near-£130m bet against the euro as fears continue to grow that the single currency will break up.

Lord Rothschild has led RIT since 1988 Photo: AP

By James Quinn 18 Aug 2012

The member of the banking dynasty has taken the position through RIT Capital Partners, the £1.9bn investment trust of which he is executive chairman.

The fact that the former investment banker, a senior member of the Rothschild family, has taken such a view will be seen as a further negative for the currency.

The latest omen follows news in The Daily Telegraph late last week that the government of Finland is already preparing for the euro’s break-up.

RIT, which Lord Rothschild has led since 1988, had a -7pc net short position in terms of principal currency exposures on the euro at the end of July, up from -3pc at the end of January. Given a net asset value of £1.836bn at the end of July, the position is worth £128m.

Sources close to RIT suggested that the position was not a dogmatic negative view on the euro as a currency, but rather a realistic approach on a currency that remains relatively weak.

It is not the first time Lord Rothschild has used currency positions as a form of hedge. RIT significantly increased its exposure in sterling after the currency’s decline in 2008, but then scaled back on both the sterling and the euro, anticipating the ensuing recessions in both regions.
Some 53pc of RIT’s assets were in US dollars at the end of July, in part a reflection of its deal to buy a 37pc stake in Rockefeller Financial Services at the end of May.
Lord Rothschild is not alone in seeing value in shorting – or selling down – the euro. At a conference organised by business news channel CNBC in July, Mary Callahan Erdoes, head of JPMorgan Asset Management, said “shorting the euro” when asked for her single best investment idea.
In June, George Soros – the billionaire investor best known in the UK for helping to force sterling out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992 by betting against the British currency – said that European leaders at that point had a “three-month window” to save the euro.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9484435/Lord-Rothschild-takes-130m-bet-against-the-euro.html

MOST WANTED:THE 20 TAX FUGITIVES WHO HAVE CONNED THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF £765MILLION

• HMRC releases mugshots of Britain's most prolific tax dodgers
• Some are hiding in Britain while others have fled abroad

By Gerri Peev
PUBLISHED: 16 August 2012
Britain's 20 most wanted tax fugitives who have conned the exchequer out of a staggering £765million been named and shamed in an FBI-style government campaign.
HM Revenue & Customs has unmasked the tax cheats in a bid to help hunt them down, issuing photographs and profiles on a new website from this morning.
The most wanted are all tax criminals who have absconded after being charged with a crime or during trial.

Wall of shame: Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) most-wanted list of 20 alleged tax-dodgers

Some are hiding in Britain while others have fled abroad to countries including Switzerland, South Africa and Pakistan.
It is the first time the Revenue has published photos of tax dodgers who are on the run in this way.
Ministers are unapologetic about the crack-down, saying that tax evasion and fraud has cost taxpayers around £10 billion a year.

Gordon Arthur, 60, left, believed to be in the US since 2000, suspected of illegally importing cigarettes and alcohol and failing to pay around £15 million in duty. Hussain Asad Chohan, 44, right, believed to be in Dubai. Convicted in his absence and sentenced to 11 years for his part in fraud worth around £200 million, which included importing 2.25 tonnes of tobacco

Zafar Baidar Chisthi, 33, left, thought to be in Pakistan,  found guilty for his part in VAT fraud worth around £150 million. Cesare Selvini, 52, right, thought to be in Switzerland, is wanted for smuggling platinum bars worth around £600,000.

David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary, said: ‘The Government is absolutely committed to tackling tax evasion and fraud.
‘These criminals have collectively cost the taxpayer over £765m and HMRC will pursue them relentlessly.
‘We hope that publishing their pictures in this way will enable members of the public to contribute to the effort to catch them.’ 

Nasser Ahmed, 40, left, believed to be in Pakistan or Dubai, was convicted in 2005 for his role in VAT fraud worth around £156 million. He fled before verdicts were given. Olutayo Owolabi, 40, right, believed to be in the UK, was convicted in January 2010 for 27 charges linked to tax credits and money laundering. The estimated cost to the taxpayer was £1 million.

Malcolm McGregor McGowan, 60, left, believed to be in Spain, was found guilty of illegally importing cigarettes worth around £16 million into the UK. Leigang Liang, 38, right, believed to be in the UK, was convictedfor illegally importing tobacco from China, costing taxpayers £2.6 million.

The government has spent £900 million to the Revenue’s enforcement team to try and recover an additional £7 billion in lost tax revenue each year.
Criminals include tobacco smuggling gang leader Leigang Liang, whose shadowy network illegally imported 650 kg of harmful counterfeit tobacco, 300,000 cigarettes and five tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco from China.
His actions are estimated to have cost the taxpayer £2.6 million. He has been sentenced in absence to seven years prison 

Mohamed Sami Kaak, 45, left, thought to be in Tunisia, is wanted for smuggling millions of cigarettes into the UK between March 2005 and September 2006 and evading around £822,000 in duty. Yehuda Cohen, 35, right, thought to be in Israel, is wanted over VAT fraud worth around £800,000.

John Nugent, 53, left, thought to be in the United States, was accused of putting in fraudulent claims for duty and VAT worth more than £22 million. Vladimir Jeriomin, 34, right, thought to be in Russia or Lithuania, was part of a gang that made false claims for tax repayments costing the taxpayer £4.8 million.

Tax fraudster Darsim Abdullah was part of a 12 man crime group that laundered up to £4million a month from crime. He absconded before he could be convicted and is believed to have fled to Iraq.
His fraud is estimated to be worth £24 million.
Nasser Ahmed has been missing since 2005. He is believed to have fled to Pakistan or Dubai after ripping off taxpayers to the tune of £156 million for a large-scale VAT fraud.
Cesare Selvini is wanted for smuggling platinum bars worth around £600,000. He failed to turn up court when his case came up in Dover eight years ago and is believed to be in Switzerland.

Wayne Joseph Hardy, 49, left, now believed to be in South Africa, was convicted of manufacturing tobacco products and not paying duty worth £1.9 million. : Dimitri Gaskov, 27, right, thought to be in Estonia, allegedly smuggled three million cigarettes into the UK using computers. He fled before trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

Adam Umerji - aka Shafiq Patel, 34, left, thought to be in Dubai, was jailed for 12 years for VAT fraud and money laundering that cost the taxpayer £64 million. Darsim Abdullah, 42, right, believed to be in Iraq, was convicted for being part of a money laundering gang that processed £1 million to £4 million per month.

Olutayo Owolabi is still believed to be at large in Britain after being convicted for 27 offences relating to tax credits and money laundering.
Sixteen tonnes of raw leaf tobacco were smuggled into Britain by Wayne Joseph Hardy.
The fugitive and others sourced a tobacco manufacturing and rolling machine.They have dodged tax worth around £2 million.
Hardy is believed to have fled to South Africa.

Timur Mehmet, 39, left, believed to be in Cyprus, is wanted over a £25 million VAT fraud. Emma Elizabeth Tazey, 38, right, is believed to be in America, wanted for illegally importing cigarettes worth £15 million

Sahil Jain, 30, left, believed to be in the UK, was arrested over alleged VAT fraud worth around £328,000 but failed to appear at the Old Bailey. Rory Martin McGann, 43, right, believed to be in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, is wanted for alleged VAT fraud worth more than £902,000.

Emma Elizabeth Tazey and Gordon Arthur are both wanted for a £15 million rip-off involving cigarettes and alcohol. They are believed to be in America.
Large-scale VAT fraudster Zafar Baidar Chisthi is thought to have absconded to Pakistan after ripping of taxpayers to the tune of £150 million.
He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for conspiracy to defraud the public purse and one year for perverting the course of justice in his absence.
The pictures are available on HMRC’s Flickr page at www.flickr.com/hmrcgovuk.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2188991/Most-wanted-The-20-tax-fugitives-conned-government-765million.html?ICO=most_read_module