Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Well, they have lots to work with and work to do.
Revealed: Credit Suisse leak unmasks criminals, fraudsters and corrupt politicians
Massive leak reveals secret owners of £80bn held in Swiss bank
Whistleblower leaked bank’s data to expose ‘immoral’ secrecy laws
Clients included human trafficker and billionaire who ordered girlfriend’s murder
Vatican-owned account used to spend €350m in allegedly fraudulent investment
Scandal-hit Credit Suisse rejects allegations it may be ‘rogue bank’
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/feb/20/credit-suisse-secrets-leak-unmasks-criminals-fraudsters-corrupt-politicians
Amassive leak from one of the world’s biggest private banks, Credit Suisse, has exposed the hidden wealth of clients involved in torture, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other serious crimes.
Details of accounts linked to 30,000 Credit Suisse clients all over the world are contained in the leak, which unmasks the beneficiaries of more than 100bn Swiss francs (£80bn)* held in one of Switzerland’s best-known financial institutions.
The leak points to widespread failures of due diligence by Credit Suisse, despite repeated pledges over decades to weed out dubious clients and illicit funds. The Guardian is part of a consortium of media outlets given exclusive access to the data.
We can reveal how Credit Suisse repeatedly either opened or maintained bank accounts for a panoramic array of high-risk clients across the world.
Quick Guide
Suisse secrets
Show
They include a human trafficker in the Philippines, a Hong Kong stock exchange boss jailed for bribery, a billionaire who ordered the murder of his Lebanese pop star girlfriend and executives who looted Venezuela’s state oil company, as well as corrupt politicians from Egypt to Ukraine.
One Vatican-owned account in the data was used to spend €350m (£290m) in an allegedly fraudulent investment in London property that is at the centre of an ongoing criminal trial of several defendants, including a cardinal.
The huge trove of banking data was leaked by an anonymous whistleblower to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. “I believe that Swiss banking secrecy laws are immoral,” the whistleblower source said in a statement. “The pretext of protecting financial privacy is merely a fig leaf covering the shameful role of Swiss banks as collaborators of tax evaders.”
Suisse secrets graphic
The revelations may fuel questions over whether Credit Suisse’s challenges over the past few years are indicative of a deep malaise at the bank. Composite: Guardian/David Levene
Credit Suisse said that Switzerland’s strict banking secrecy laws prevented it from commenting on claims relating to individual clients.
“Credit Suisse strongly rejects the allegations and inferences about the bank’s purported business practices,” the bank said in a statement, arguing that the matters uncovered by reporters are based on “selective information taken out of context, resulting in tendentious interpretations of the bank’s business conduct.”
The bank also said the allegations were largely historical, in some instances dating back to a time when “laws, practices and expectations of financial institutions were very different from where they are now”.
While some accounts in the data were open as far back as the 1940s, more than two-thirds were opened since 2000. Many of those were still open well into the last decade, and a portion remain open today.
Zurich
Switzerland
Ukraine
Ukraine
1,000+ accounts
1,000+ accounts
Thailand
Thailand
1,000+ accounts
1,000+ accounts
Venezuela
Venezuela
2,000+ accounts
2,000+ accounts
Egypt
Egypt
2,000+ accounts
2,000+ accounts
Credit Suisse has more than 1.6tn CHF (£1.3tn) in assets under management and is one of Switzerland’s largest lenders, second only to UBS. It has almost 50,000 employees, including a significant workforce in Zurich, where the bank is headquartered.
However, many of its 3,500 ‘relationship managers’, who find and serve wealthy clients, are spread across the world. The leaked accounts are linked to Credit Suisse clients living in more than 120 jurisdictions, with a concentration of clients in the developing world.
Countries with some of the largest number of clients in the data, such as Venezuela, Egypt, Ukraine and Thailand, have long struggled with political and financial elites hiding their fortunes offshore.
Guardian graphic. By Niels de Hoog, Ashley Kirk and Paul Scruton.
The timing of the leak could hardly be worse for Credit Suisse, which has recently been beset by major scandals. Last month, it lost its chairman, António Horta-Osório, after he twice broke Covid-19 regulations.
That capped an unprecedented year of controversies in which the bank became embroiled in the collapse of the supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital and the US hedge fund Archegos Capital, and was fined £350m over its role in a loan scandal in Mozambique.
This month, Credit Suisse became the first major Swiss bank in the country’s history to face criminal charges – which it denies – relating to allegation it helped launder money from the cocaine trade on behalf of the Bulgarian mafia.
However, the repercussions of the leak could be much broader than one bank, threatening a crisis for Switzerland, which retains one of the world’s most secretive banking laws. Swiss financial institutions manage about 7.9tn CHF (£6.3tn) in assets, nearly half of which belongs to foreign clients.
The Suisse secrets project sheds a rare light on one of the world’s largest financial centres, which has grown used to operating in the shadows. It identifies the convicts and money launderers who were able to open bank accounts, or keep them open for years after their crimes emerged. And it reveals how Switzerland’s famed banking secrecy laws helped facilitate the looting of countries in the developing world.
Disgraced executives, fraudsters, traffickers – clients
When Ronald Li Fook-shiu approached a banker to open an account in 2000, he is unlikely to have been viewed as a run-of-the-mill client. A former chairman of the Hong Kong stock exchange, he was one of the wealthiest people in the city, where he was known as the “godfather of the stock market”. But he was perhaps better known for the time he spent in a maximum security prison.
Li’s career had ended in disgrace in 1990, when he was convicted of taking bribes in exchange for listing companies on the stock exchange. However, a decade later Li was nonetheless able to open an account that later held 59m CHF (£26.3m), according to the leak.
He has since died, but his case is one of dozens discovered by reporters appearing to show Credit Suisse opened or maintained accounts for clients who had serious convictions that might be expected to show up in due diligence checks. There are other instances in which Credit Suisse may have taken quick action after red flags emerged, but the case nonetheless shows that dubious clients have been attracted to the bank.
Ronald Li Fook-shiu
Ronald Li Fook-shiu was known as the ‘godfather of the stock market’. Composite: Guardian/Alamy
Like every other bank in the world, Credit Suisse professes to have stringent control mechanisms to carry out extensive due diligence on its customers to “ensure that the highest standards of conduct are upheld”. In banking parlance, such controls are called know-your-client or KYC checks.
A 2017 leaked report commissioned by Switzerland’s financial regulator shed some light on the bank’s internal procedures at that time. Clients would face intensified scrutiny when flagged as a politically exposed person from a high-risk country, or a person involved in a high-risk activity such as gambling, weapons trading, financial services or mining, the report said.
Relationship managers were expected to use external sources to verify customers and their risk levels, according to the leak, including news articles or databases such as the Thomson Reuters World-Check platform, which is used widely in the financial services sector to flag when people are arrested, charged, investigated or convicted of a serious crime.
Rodoljub Radulovic
Rodoljub Radulovic.
Such controls might be expected to prevent a bank from opening accounts for clients such as Rodoljub Radulovic, a Serbian securities fraudster indicted in 2001 by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. However, the leaked data identifies him as the co-signatory of two Credit Suisse company accounts. The first was opened in 2005, the year after the SEC had secured a default judgment against Radulovic for running a pump-and-dump scheme.
One of Radulovic’s company accounts held 3.4m CHF (£2.2m) before they closed in 2010. He was recently given a 10-year prison sentence by a court in Belgrade for his role trafficking cocaine from South America for the organised crime boss Darko Šaric. Radulovic’s lawyer did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Due diligence is not only for new clients. Banks are required to continually reassess existing customers. The 2017 report said Credit Suisse screened customers at least every three years and as often as once a year for the riskiest clients. Lawyers for Credit Suisse told the Guardian these periodic reviews were introduced “more than 15 years ago”, meaning it was continually running due diligence on existing clients from 2007.
The bank might, therefore, have been expected to have discovered that its German client Eduard Seidel was convicted of bribery in 2008. Seidel was an employee of Siemens. As the multinational’s lead in Nigeria, he oversaw a campaign of industrial-scale bribery to secure lucrative contracts for his employer by funnelling cash to corrupt Nigerian politicians.
Eduard Seidel
Eduard Seidel, convicted of bribery in 2008. Composite: Handout
After German authorities raided the Munich headquarters of Siemens in 2006, Seidel immediately confessed his role in the bribery scheme, though he said he had never stolen from the company or appropriated its slush funds. His involvement in the corruption led to his name being entered into the Thomson Reuters World-Check database in 2007.
However, the leaked Credit Suisse data shows his accounts were left open until at least well into the last decade. At one point after he left Siemens, one account was worth 54m CHF (£24m). Seidel’s lawyer declined to say whether the accounts were his. He said his client had addressed all outstanding matters relating to his bribery offences and wished to move on with his life.
The lawyer did not respond to repeated invitations to explain the source of the 54m CHF. Siemens said it did not know about the money and that its review of its own cashflows shed no light on the account.
While Credit Suisse said in its statement it could not comment on any specific clients, the bank said “actions have been taken in line with applicable policies and regulatory requirements at the relevant times, and that related issues have already been addressed”.
In some instances, Credit Suisse is understood to have frozen accounts belonging to problematic clients. Yet questions remain about how quickly the bank moved to close them.
One client, Stefan Sederholm, a Swedish computer technician who opened an account with Credit Suisse in 2008, was able to keep it open for two-and-a-half years after his widely reported conviction for human trafficking in the Philippines, for which he was given a life sentence.
Stefan Sederholm.
Stefan Sederholm. Composite: AFP
Sederholm’s crime first came to light in 2009, when police in Manila raided a storefront purporting to be the local chapter of the Mindanao Peoples’ Peace Movement, and discovered about 17 women in cubicles with webcams performing sex shows for foreign customers. He was convicted in 2011.
A representative for Sederholm said Credit Suisse never froze his accounts and did not close them until 2013 when he was unable to provide due diligence material. Asked why Sederholm needed a Swiss account, they said that he was living in Thailand when it was opened, adding: “Can you please tell me if you would prefer to put your money in a Thai or Swiss bank?”
Ferdinand and Imelda pillage the Philippines
Swiss banks have cultivated their trusted reputation since as far back as 1713, when the Great Council of Geneva prohibited bankers from revealing details about the fortunes being deposited by European aristocrats. Switzerland soon became a tax haven for many of the world’s elites and its bankers nurtured a “duty of absolute silence” about their clients affairs.
The custom was enshrined in statute in 1934 with the introduction of Switzerland’s banking secrecy law, which criminalised the disclosure of client banking information to foreign authorities. Within decades, wealthy clients from all over the world were flocking to Swiss banks. Sometimes, that meant clients with something to hide.
One of the most notorious cases in Credit Suisse’s history involved the corrupt Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda. The couple are estimated to have siphoned as much as $10bn from the Philippines during the three terms Ferdinand was president, which ended in 1986.
The Marcoses
Credit Suisse helped Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos open Swiss accounts under fake names. Composite: Guardian
It has long been known that Credit Suisse was one of the first banks to help the Marcoses ravage their own country and in one infamous episode even helped them open Swiss accounts under the fake names “William Saunders” and “Jane Ryan”. In 1995, a Zurich court ordered Credit Suisse and another bank to return $500m of stolen funds to the Philippines.
The leaked data contains an account that belonged to Helen Rivilla, an attorney convicted in 1992 for helping launder money on behalf of Ferdinand Marcos. Despite this, she was able to open a Swiss account in 2000, as was her husband, Antonio, who faced similar charges that were subsequently dropped.
It is hard to know how Credit Suisse could have missed the money-laundering case linking the couple to the corrupt Philippine leader, which was reported by the Associated Press. The couple, who could not be reached for comment, were able to hold about 8m CHF (£3.6m) with the bank before their accounts were closed in 2006.
One former Credit Suisse employee at the time alleges there was a deeply ingrained culture in Swiss banking of looking the other way when it came to problematic clients. “The bank’s compliance departments [were] masters of plausible deniability,” they told a reporter from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, one of the coordinators of the Suisse secrets project. “Never write anything down that could expose an account that is non-compliant and never ask a question you do not want to know the answer to.”
The 2000s was also a decade in which foreign regulators and tax authorities became increasingly frustrated at their inability to penetrate the Swiss financial system. That changed in 2007, when the UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld voluntarily approached US authorities with information about how the bank was helping thousands of wealthy Americans evade tax with secret accounts.
We are transparent, there is nothing to hide in Switzerland.
Swiss Bankers Association
Birkenfeld was viewed as a traitor in Switzerland, where banking whistleblowers are often held in contempt. However, a wide-ranging US Senate investigation later uncovered the aggressive tactics used by UBS and Credit Suisse, the latter of which was found to have sent bankers to high-end events to recruit clients, courted a potential customer with free gold, and in one case even delivered sensitive bank statements hidden in the pages of a Sports Illustrated magazine.
The revelations sent shock waves through Switzerland’s financial sector and enraged the US, which pressured Switzerland into unilaterally disclosing which of its taxpayers had secret Swiss accounts from 2014. That same year, Switzerland reluctantly signed up to the international convention on the automatic exchange of banking Information.
By adopting the so-called common reporting standard (CRS) for sharing tax data, Switzerland in effect agreed that its banks would in the future exchange information about their clients with tax authorities in foreign countries. They started doing so in 2018.
Membership of the global exchange system is often cited by Switzerland’s banking industry as a turning point. “There is no longer Swiss bank client confidentiality for clients abroad,” the Swiss Bankers Association told the Guardian. “We are transparent, there is nothing to hide in Switzerland.”
Switzerland’s almost 90-year-old banking secrecy law, however, remains in force – and was recently broadened. The Tax Justice Network estimates that countries around the world collectively lose $21bn (£15.4bn) each year in tax revenues because of Switzerland. Many of those countries will be poorer nations that have not signed up to the CRS data exchange.
Suisse secrets graphic
Banks that enable kleptocrats to launder their money are complicit in a particularly far-reaching crime. Composite: Guardian Design
More than 90 countries, most of which are in the developing world, remain in the dark when their wealthy taxpayers hide their money in Swiss accounts.
This inequity in the system was cited by the whistleblower behind the leaked data, who said the CRS system “imposes a disproportionate financial and infrastructural burden on developing nations, perpetuating their exclusion from the system in the foreseeable future”.
“This situation enables corruption and starves developing countries of much-needed tax revenue. These countries are the ones that therefore suffer most from Switzerland’s reverse-Robin-Hood stunt,” they said.
The whistleblower acknowledged that the leak would contain accounts that were legitimate and declared by the client to their tax authority.
“I am aware that having an offshore Swiss bank account does not necessarily imply tax evasion or any other financial crime,” they said. “However, it is likely that a significant number of these accounts were opened with the sole purpose of hiding their holder’s wealth from fiscal institutions and/or avoiding the payment of taxes on capital gains.”
It was not possible for journalists in the Suisse secrets project to establish how many of the more than 18,000 accounts in the leak were declared to relevant tax authorities.
Quick Guide
Suisse secrets media partners
Show
Media partners in the consortium wrote to more than 100 Credit Suisse clients in the data, asking whether they had disclosed their Swiss accounts to tax authorities. Five confirmed they had done so. Six said they were not required to declare their Swiss accounts. No others replied.
Links to another dictator … and another
Ferdinand Marcos may have been Credit Suisse’s most notorious client. He is arguably rivalled only by relatives of the brutal Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, who is believed to have stolen as much as $5bn from his people in just six years. It has long been known that Credit Suisse provided services to Abacha’s sons, opening Swiss accounts in which they deposited $214m.
Credit Suisse was publicly contrite after being kicked off a sustainable investment index over the affair. “We understand that the index was not really happy with us being involved with Abacha – we were not happy ourselves,” a spokesperson said in 1999. “But we have addressed those problems and for several years we have taken internal measures to make sure nothing similar happens in the future.”
Banks that enable kleptocrats to launder their money are complicit in a particularly far-reaching crime. The consequences for already impoverished populations can be devastating, as state coffers are siphoned, basic standards are eroded and trust in democracy plummets.
Politicians and state officials are among the riskiest customers for banks because of their access to public funds, particularly in developing nations with fewer legal safeguards against corruption. Banks and other financial institutions are required to subject politically exposed persons, or PEPs, to the most stringent checks, known as “enhanced due diligence”.
The leaked Credit Suisse data is peppered with politicians and their allies who have been linked to corruption before, during or after they had their accounts. None are as well known as the Marcoses or the Abachas, but several wielded great power in countries from Syria to Madagascar, where they amassed personal fortunes.
They include Pavlo Lazarenko, who served a corrupt single year as prime minister of Ukraine between 1997 and 1998 before applying for an account at Credit Suisse. One month after pressure from rivals forced Lazarenko to announce his resignation, he opened his first of two Credit Suisse accounts. One was later valued at almost 8m CHF (£3.6m).
Pavlo Lazarenko, former Ukrainian prime minister
Pavlo Lazarenko, former Ukrainian prime minister. Composite: Guardian/Alamy
Lazarenko was later estimated by Transparency International to have looted $200m from the Ukrainian government, allegedly by threatening to harm businesses unless they paid him 50% of their profits. He pleaded guilty to money laundering in Switzerland in 2000, and was later indicted in the US for corruption and sentenced to nine years in prison in 2006 in relation to bribes received from a Ukrainian businessman.
His lawyer said those convictions did not relate to the theft of any money from the people of Ukraine. Lazarenko, who reportedly lives in California, has resisted returning to the country, where he still faces accusations he stole $17m. His lawyer said his Credit Suisse accounts had not been accessed for two decades and were frozen in connection with court proceedings against him.
It remains unclear why Credit Suisse allowed Lazarenko to open an account and deposit such huge sums in the first place, given his background; before entering politics, Lazarenko was a functionary in charge of a collective farm.
Monika Roth, an expert on money laundering and a professor at Lucerne University, said Swiss banks had for a long time struggled to properly challenge politicians and public officials who, after stints in public office on relatively modest salaries, turned up with huge sums to deposit. She said: “Nobody wants to have asked the question: how is that possible?”
Around the time it was doing business with Lazarenko, Credit Suisse appears to have also made inroads into the Egyptian political establishment under the dictator Hosni Mubarak, who was president for three decades until 2011. The bank’s clients included Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, who established business empires in Egypt.
Alaa and Gamal Mubarak
Alaa and Gamal Mubarak. Composite: Guardian
The brothers’ relationship with the bank spanned decades, with the earliest joint account opened by the brothers in 1993. By 2010 – the year before the popular revolt that ousted their father – an account belonging to Alaa held 232m CHF (£138m).
After the Arab spring uprisings their fortunes changed, and in 2015 the brothers and their father were sentenced to three years in jail by an Egyptian court for embezzlement and corruption. They say the case was politically motivated, but after an unsuccessful appeal Alaa and Gamal paid an estimated $17.6m to the Egyptian government in a settlement agreement that made no admissions of guilt.
Lawyers for the brothers reject any suggestion they were corrupt, saying their rights were violated during the Egyptian case, and 10 years of wide-ranging and intrusive investigations into their global assets by foreign authorities has not uncovered any legal violations. They added that their Swiss accounts had been frozen for over a decade, pending the resolution of investigations by the Swiss authorities.
Other Credit Suisse clients linked to Hosni Mubarak were the late tycoon Hussein Salem – who acted as a financial consigliere for the dictator for nearly three decades, amassed a fortune through preferred tender deals and died in exile after facing money-laundering charges – and Hisham Talaat Moustafa, a billionaire politician in Mubarak’s party.
Hisham Talaat Mustafa and Hussein Salem
Hisham Talaat Mustafa (left) and Hussein Salem. Composite: AP/EPA
Moustafa, who could not be reached for comment, was convicted in 2009 of hiring a hitman to murder his ex-girlfriend, the Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim – but his account was not closed until 2014.
Another Mubarak henchman linked to Credit Suisse’s banking services was his former spy chief Omar Suleiman. His associates are listed in the data as beneficial owners of an account that held 63m CHF (£26m) in 2007. Suleiman was a feared figure in Egypt, where he oversaw widespread torture and human rights abuses.
Omar Suleiman
Omar Suleiman. Composite: Alamy
The data reveals Credit Suisse accounts held by several more intelligence and military figures and their family members, including in Pakistan, Jordan, Yemen and Iraq. One Algerian client was Khaled Nezzar, who served as minister of defence until 1993 and participated in a coup that precipitated a brutal civil war in which the military junta he was part of was accused of disappearances, mass detentions, torture and execution of detainees.
Nezzar’s alleged role in human rights abuses had been widely documented by 2004, when his account was opened. It contained a maximum balance of 2m CHF (£900,000) and remained open until 2013, two years after he was arrested in Switzerland for suspected war crimes. He denies wrongdoing and the investigation is ongoing.
If ordinary Algerians, Egyptians and Ukrainians have reason to complain that Credit Suisse may have aided nefarious leaders, their grievances pale in comparison with Venezuelans.
Khaled Nezzar
Khaled Nezzar. Composite: Guardian
Reporters working on the Suisse secrets project identified Credit Suisse accounts linked to almost two dozen business people, officials and politicians implicated in corrupt schemes in Venezuela, most of which revolved around the state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
“Corruption has always been around in PDVSA, in varying degrees and levels,” said César Mata-Garcia, an academic at the University of Dundee specialising in international petroleum law. “The words ‘Venezuela’, ‘PDVSA’ and ‘oil’ are an alarm bell for banks.”
If so, that does not appear to have stopped Credit Suisse acquiring clients later revealed to be involved in numerous US investigations and prosecutions linked to PDVSA and the looting of the Venezuelan economy.
One case involves two US-based businessmen with Venezuelan connections, Roberto Rincón Fernández and Abraham Shiera Bastidas, who in 2009 set about bribing officials in exchange for lucrative PDVSA contracts with the help of an associate, Fernando Ardila Rueda. Among those who allegedly received bungs were the energy vice-minister, Nervis Villalobos Cárdenas, and a senior PDVSA official, Luis De Léon Perez.
Nervis Villalobos Cárdenas, Roberto Rincón Fernandez, Abraham Shiera Bastidas and Luis De Léon Perez
From left: Nervis Villalobos Cárdenas, Roberto Rincón Fernández, Abraham Shiera Bastidas and Luis De Léon Perez. Composite: Guardian
In 2015, US prosecutors began indicting the participants; court papers make repeated reference to payments into accounts in an unnamed Swiss bank. However, the leaked data reveals all five men had Credit Suisse accounts active at the time of the offences. Of the five, four have pleaded guilty. The exception, Villalobos, is resisting extradition to the US from Spain.
Some of the Venezuela-linked Credit Suisse accounts contained enormous sums; Villalobos had as much as 9.5m CHF (£6.3m) in his account and De Léon had as much as 22m (£15.5m). Rincón, the businessman paying their bribes, had more than 68m CHF (£44.2m) in his account as of November 2015, the month prior to his arrest.
‘How many rogue bankers before you become a rogue bank?’
When Credit Suisse’s ornate headquarters were constructed in the 1870s in Zurich, they were designed to symbolise “Switzerland as a financial centre”. More than 150 years later, Credit Suisse occupies the same grand premises and Switzerland remains a global offshore centre, much as it has done for the last 300 years.
It is only in recent decades that Credit Suisse, one of Switzerland’s oldest and most cherished banks, acquired its reputation for calamity. As one commentator observed earlier this week: “The bank boasts that its purpose is to serve its wealthy clients ‘with care and entrepreneurial spirit’, but at this stage most of them would probably be happy if it could just avoid yet another major scandal.”
Horta-Osório lasted less than a year before resigning last month. Shortly after Credit Suisse appointed its new chairman, Axel Lehmann, the bank reported a loss of 1.6bn CHF (£1.3bn) in the fourth quarter, in part because it had put aside more than 400m CHF (£320m) to deal with unspecified “legacy litigation matters”.
And there is no shortage of those. The scandals involving Greensill, Archegos and Mozambique bonds have dogged the bank over the past year.
Over the past three decades, Credit Suisse has faced at least a dozen penalties and sanctions for offences involving tax evasion, money laundering, the deliberate violation of US sanctions and frauds carried out against its own customers that span multiple decades and jurisdictions. In total, it has racked up more than $4.2bn in fines or settlements.
Cash graphic
Some of the accounts in the leak remain open today. Composite: Guardian
That includes the $2.6bn the Swiss bank agreed to pay US authorities after pleading guilty to conspiring to aid tax evasion in 2014; the $536m it was fined by the US five years before for deliberately circumventing US sanctions against countries including Iran and Sudan in 2009, and other payouts to Germany and Italy over tax evasion allegations.
Against this backdrop, the Suisse secrets revelations may fuel questions over whether Credit Suisse’s challenges are indicative of a deep malaise at the bank.
Jeff Neiman, a Florida-based attorney who represents a number of Credit Suisse whistleblowers, believes the sheer number of scandals involving the bank indicates a deeper problem.
“The bank likes to say it’s just rogue bankers. But how many rogue bankers do you need to have before you start having a rogue bank?” he said. Neiman alleges there has been a culture at the bank “which encourages its bankers probably from the top down to hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil, bury their heads in the sand on a good day, and on many days, actively assist folks to skirt whatever the law may be in order to best protect assets under management”.”
Such allegations are strongly rejected by Credit Suisse. “In line with financial reforms across the sector and in Switzerland, Credit Suisse has taken a series of significant additional measures over the last decade, including considerable further investments in combating financial crime,” the bank said in its statement, adding that it upheld “the highest standards of conduct”.
Its lawyers said it had fully cooperated with many of the investigations cited by the Guardian and that any past individual failings by the bank did not reflect its current business policies, practices or culture. In November, it announced it would put “risk management at the very core of the bank”.
The bank said its “preliminary review” of the accounts flagged by the Suisse secrets reporting project had established that more than 90% of those reviewed were now closed or “were in the process of closure prior to receipt of the press inquiries”. Of the remaining accounts, which remain active, the bank said it was “comfortable that appropriate due diligence, reviews and other control-related steps were taken, including pending account closures”.
The Credit Suisse statement added: “These media allegations appear to be a concerted effort to discredit the bank and the Swiss financial marketplace, which has undergone significant changes over the last several years.”
The debate over whether Switzerland’s banking industry has undergone sufficient reforms is likely to be renewed in light of the leak. The whistleblower who shared the data suggested that banks alone should not be blamed for the state of affairs, as they are “simply being good capitalists by maximising profits within the legal framework they operate in”.
“Simply put, Swiss legislators are responsible for enabling financial crimes and – by virtue of their direct democracy – the Swiss people have the power to do something about it. While I am aware that banking secrecy laws are partly responsible for the Swiss economic success story, it is my strong opinion that such a wealthy country should be able to afford a conscience.”
* Currency conversions are based on historical rates.
That's impossible unless he withdraws, home bound in shame, and would be just more of his bs same.
His eyes and expressions are saying that he's more afraid right now of holding something else back, and the crowd is just one of his least worries.
NYSE, Nasdaq halt trading in stocks of Russia-based companies
By John Mccrank
https://www.reuters.com/business/nyse-nasdaq-halt-trading-stocks-russia-based-companies-2022-02-28/
MIT severing ties with Russian school
1:29 p.m.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that it would sever ties with a Russian research university it helped create a decade ago.
MIT said that it notified the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Moscow that it would end the MIT Skoltech Program as a result of Russia’s “the unacceptable military actions against Ukraine.”
“This step is a rejection of the actions of the Russian government in Ukraine. We take it with deep regret because of our great respect for the Russian people and our profound appreciation for the contributions of the many extraordinary Russian colleagues we have worked with,” MIT said in a statement.
The Moscow school is closely connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government and has been targeted by critics who argue that U.S. universities should not play a role in helping the Russian government create an advanced technology institute, according to GPH News, an NPR affiliate in Boston.
--MONIQUE BEALS
Courtesy of NYT
I just want to live in our country, and that's all." Julia, a teacher and Ukrainian volunteer, wept as she waited to be deployed to fight Russian troops around Kyiv on Saturday.
Video
I just want to live in our country
Many, many pics and videos. NOT FAKE. War is not clean, no matter what we see out our front window.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/28/europe/gallery/ukraine-girl-killed/index.html
Diplomat confirms Israeli killed by gunfire in Ukraine
i24NEWSFebruary 28, 2022, 10:47 AM
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/ukraine-conflict/1646070429-diplomat-confirms-israeli-killed-by-gunfire-in-ukraine
Never been used ... until now. Once approved, a good chance, Ukraine will be part of the EU and Russia will be attacking the EU and everything that means.
then the follow up
LVIV, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday said he had signed an official request for Ukraine to join the European Union.
Zelenskiy has asked the European Union to allow Ukraine to gain membership immediately under a special procedure as it defends itself from invasion by Russian forces.
The response is coming
February 28, 2022 10:17 AM ET (BZ Newswire) -- Government
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested that the European Union enact a special procedure that will enable his country to immediately gain membership in its organization.
What Happened: In a video posted on his Telegram channel, Zelensky stressed the need for Ukraine to unite with the rest of the continent under the EU auspices.
“We ask the European Union for Ukraine’s immediate accession via a new special procedure,” he said. “Our goal is to be together with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be on an equal footing. I’m sure it’s fair. I’m sure it’s possible.”
See Also: Live Trading with Benzinga - Day Trading & Options Trading
What Happens Next: While there is a process set up to allow for a fast-track application, it has yet to be used. And Ukraine has yet to make a formal request for EU membership, it is unclear how this will be transacted or if Ukraine would meet the eligibility standards if judged by its pre-invasion socioeconomic structure.
Ukraine has been part of an Association Agreement with the EU since 2017 and is also part of the organization’s Eastern Partnership and European Neighborhood Policy.
However, AFP reported that European Council President Charles Michel announced there was no unanimity among the 27 EU member nations to welcome Ukraine as a new member under the fast-track procedure. And complicating matters are the status of five nations – Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey – that have gone through the formal application process and have been waiting for years to receive confirmation of their membership requests.
Photo courtesy president.gov.ua / Wikimedia Commons
Copyright © 2022 Benzinga (BZ Newswire, http://www.benzinga.com/licensing). Benzinga does not provide investmentadvice. All rights reserved. Write to editorial@benzinga.com with any questions about this content. Subscribe to Benzinga Pro (http://pro.benzinga.com).
This past weekend some pretty big and multiple hammers hitting hard on the nail head.
Russian Oil Buyers Struggle To Charter Ships
Reuters
https://gcaptain.com/russian-oil-charter-ships/
by Peter Graff (Reuters) Buyers of Russian oil have faced massive difficulties over payments and availability of ships after imposition of Western sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine, traders said on Monday.
The West has introduced wide-range sweeping sanctions, including on the banking sector, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. Russia calls its action a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine.
The United States and its allies on Saturday moved to block certain Russian banks’ access to the SWIFT international payment system.
The vast Russian energy sector itself has not been hit by the sanctions. Russia produces 10% of global oil and supplies 40% of Europe’s gas.
Traders said Russian oil buyers had struggled to find vessels in the Baltic Sea for cargoes loading after March 10, while they also reported that freight costs for Russian oil delivery had spiked fivefold in the Black Sea region within a week.
“We have ships for the closest dates, but we have no clue how we will load cargoes in mid-March,” said a source at a large buyer of Russian Urals oil.
(Reporting by Reuters Editing by Peter Graff and David Goodman, Reuters)
Related Articles
Finance
Banks Shutdown Russian Shipping Credit
By Dmitry Zhdannikov (Reuters) The global oil market was thrown into chaos on Thursday after Russia invaded Ukraine, with top buyers of Russian oil struggling to secure guarantees at Western banks...
https://gcaptain.com/banks-shutdown-russian-shipping-credit/
"Putin and his Oligarch buds are buying the hell out of the Bitcoin"
I'm sure there are other forces that know exactly what's going on. May be forming a trap of sorts. Could be just a way to keep the energy spigot on. We also know that there are State hacking groups and they have infiltrated BTC at times and the ability to do so is well established. Could be some manipulated corrections in the works later down the road. Gold has been used in this environment in the past and currently. Just a New World continuance? At any rate, there will be a cost of laundering to the Russians, how much is a ?.
Google (set search time to last week);
Number of countries sending military equipment to Ukraine (this will include missiles, rockets, anti-aircraft/tank, military jets, etc and all the personnel getting it there through Poland right now.)
1936 Montreux Convention (Turkish officials on Sunday called Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine a "war,")
UN Resolution 377 A (V) (meeting today which was voted yesterday to have)
Airspace blocked around the world
Russian targeted attacks on Nuclear waste sights and takeover of Chernobyl in Ukraine (along with other danger with other sites there)
death and destruction count in Ukraine (get some video with those just normal people like us and currently being effected)
Cyber Warfare that is being done right now.
The list is massive, but that's a good start.
War Games -- I don't call it that, I just call it plain WAR (a World War)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia , Feb. 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX: LAC) (NYSE: LAC) ("Lithium Americas" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the Company has submitted a draft application to the US Department of Energy (" DOE ”) for funding to be used at its 100%-owned Thacker Pass lithium project in Humboldt County, Nevada (“ Thacker Pass ”) through the Advanced Technologies Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program (the “Loan Program”). The Loan Program is designed to provide funding to US companies engaged in the manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles and components used in those vehicles.
" Thacker Pass is a unique, large-scale and advanced-stage lithium project representing one of the most significant opportunities to create a truly domestic lithium supply chain to support the production of electric vehicles in the US,” said Jonathan Evans , President and CEO. “We are pleased to submit our draft application and look forward to engaging with the DOE to accelerate the growth of the domestic lithium industry in response to increased demand and interest from US-based consumers.”
Exploring Creation of Separate US Lithium Business
Lithium Americas continues to make meaningful progress at its projects in both the United States and Argentina :
United States : In addition to the draft application with the DOE , the Company received all final key state permits for Thacker Pass on February 25, 2022 . Funding discussions with a variety of strategic partners are ongoing along with the completion of the feasibility study incorporating increased scale, additional processing and related infrastructure changes and the results of engineering and testing. Capital and operating cost estimates are being updated to reflect these changes, as well as to account for external factors such as inflationary pressures and supply chain considerations.
Argentina : The Company’s Caucharí-Olaroz lithium brine project (“Caucharí-Olaroz”) is set to complete construction this year as the largest new battery-quality lithium carbonate brine operation to come online in over 20 years. The Caucharí-Olaroz expansion and the recently acquired Pastos Grandes lithium brine project (“Pastos Grandes”) provide further growth potential to support a regional lithium operation in northern Argentina .
As Lithium Americas continues to advance its projects in both regions towards production, the Company has started the process of exploring a separation of its US and Argentina operations, through the creation of a standalone public company focused on the development of Thacker Pass . The Company is assessing available alternatives and structures to effect such separation.
“We have world-class assets in both regions with tremendous potential,” said Mr. Evans . “While no final decision has been made, we believe a separation could enable each of our businesses to maximize and accelerate their strategic objectives, with dedicated focus and increased financial flexibility.”
Mr. Evans added, “Thacker Pass is one of the largest-scale and most advanced development-stage lithium projects in the US and received a Record of Decision (“ROD”) in January 2021 . The project is aligned with the national agenda to enhance domestic supply of critical minerals and has the potential to be a leading near-term source of lithium for the US battery supply chain.”
No final decision has been made with respect to any potential separation transaction. No assurance can be given as to whether a separation transaction will take place, the form of any such transaction or the timing of any transaction.
ABOUT LITHIUM AMERICAS
Curtesy of AP News
UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. Security Council has voted for the 193-member General Assembly to hold an emergency session on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Monday.
The vote on Sunday to authorize an emergency meeting was 11 in favor, Russia opposed, and China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining. That was the exact same vote on a resolution Friday demanding that Moscow immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops. But in that case, Russia used its veto and the resolution was defeated.
Ukrainian U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya asked for the General Assembly meeting to be held under the so-called “Uniting for Peace” resolution, initiated by the United States and adopted in November 1950 to circumvent vetoes by the Soviet Union during the Korean War.
That resolution gives the General Assembly the power to call emergency meetings when the Security Council is unable to act because of the lack of unanimity among its five veto-wielding permanent members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.
Introductory notes on Resolution 377 A (V)
https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/ufp/ufp.html
On 3 November 1950, the General Assembly adopted resolution 377 A (V), which was given the title “Uniting for Peace”. The adoption of this resolution came as a response to the strategy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to block any determination by the Security Council on measures to be taken in order to protect the Republic of Korea against the aggression launched against it by military forces from North Korea. General view of the General Assembly Hall in Flushing MeadowAt the initial stage of this armed conflict, in June 1950, the Security Council had been able to recommend to the Members of the United Nations to “furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and to restore international peace and security in the area” (resolution 83 (1950) of 27 June 1950). The resolution could be passed because the USSR, at that time, boycotted the meetings of the Security Council with the aim of obtaining the allocation of the permanent Chinese seat to the communist Government in Beijing. It assumed that in its absence the Security Council would not be able to discharge its functions since Article 27, paragraph 3, of the Charter provides that substantive resolutions of the Security Council require an affirmative vote of nine members “including the concurring votes of the permanent members”. The majority of the members of the Security Council, however, were of the view that absence from the meeting room could not prevent the key organ of the United Nations from acting validly, a view that was later endorsed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) (Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970), Advisory Opinion, I.C.J Reports 1971, p. 16, at para. 22). Given that its protests remained fruitless, the USSR sent again, as from August 1950, a delegation to the meetings of the Council which cast a negative vote on a United States draft resolution condemning the continued defiance of the United Nations by the North Korean authorities. In order to overcome this impasse, the United States, under the leadership of its Foreign Secretary Dean Acheson, succeeded in persuading the General Assembly that it should claim for itself a subsidiary responsibility with regard to international peace and security, as enunciated by Article 14 of the Charter. The result of these efforts was resolution 377 A (V).
The most important part of resolution 377 A (V) is section A which states that where the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the General Assembly shall seize itself of the matter. Procedural and substantive steps are suggested. First of all, if the Assembly is not in session, it may meet in emergency special session at the request of the Security Council or of a majority of its own members. Second, such a session shall be convened with a view to making appropriate recommendations for “collective measures…including the use of armed force when necessary”. As also the language of the resolution clearly reveals, the General Assembly can never be a full substitute for the Security Council in this area. Accordingly, only “recommendations” are mentioned, i.e., pronouncements devoid of any binding legal force. Additionally, resolution 377 A (V) establishes two auxiliary bodies, a Peace Observation Commission, which existed until 1960, and a Collective Measures Committee, which had a short life of only two years. None of these bodies has played any role of major significance.
Although the General Assembly did not attempt to arrogate to itself powers akin to those rooted in Chapter VII of the Charter, it stands to reason that originally resolution 377 A (V) was hardly reconcilable with the Charter. Articles 11 and 12 establish unequivocally the primacy of the Security Council with regard to all matters relating to international peace and security. As far as procedure is concerned, Article 12, paragraph 1, stipulates that while the Council is exercising its function in respect of any dispute or situation, “the General Assembly shall not make any recommendation with regard to that dispute or situation”. On the other hand, where “action” seems to be necessary, the General Assembly is enjoined to refer the matter to the Council (Article 11, paragraph 2). This configuration, however, was hard to uphold. Politically, it is definitely quite unwise to keep the General Assembly on the sidelines when a major conflict erupts. Almost as a logical consequence, Article 11, paragraph 2, and Article 12, paragraph 1, have suffered an erosion process of which resolution 377 A (V) constitutes only one element among many others. In its Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the ICJ has formally confirmed that the prohibition of simultaneous action has been superseded by practice (I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 136, at paras. 27-28).
To date, ten emergency special sessions have been convened. The first one took place on the occasion of the 1956 war between Israel and Egypt and the British-French attack on the Suez Canal zone; the tenth emergency special session, dealing with the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, started in 1997 and has not yet come to its end. (It was adjourned by resolution ES-10/16 of 17 November 2006, para. 13, and can at any time be resumed upon request by Member States.)
According to political criteria, different patterns can be distinguished. If the Security Council is unanimous in requesting such a session, the harmony between the two main organs of the United Nations is not disturbed. The crisis in Lebanon prompted the Security Council in 1958 to convene an emergency special session of the General Assembly (resolution 129 (1958) of 7 August 1958). It did so without mentioning explicitly resolution 377 A (V), and one may indeed have doubts as to whether this was a case of application of that resolution since there was no lack of unanimity of the permanent members. The situation in Lebanon was referred to the General Assembly because the Security Council had no solution to offer. The second situation is characterized by a vote of a majority of the members of the Security Council against the opposition of some other members, including permanent members. In such instances, the veto does not operate since referral to the General Assembly is considered to constitute a procedural determination and hence not subject to such blocking power. Understandably, the first emergency special session was called by the Security Council against the resistance of France and the United Kingdom (resolution 119 (1956) of 31 October 1956). In the Hungarian crisis, which unfolded almost at the same time, the roles were distributed differently, with only the USSR opposing the motion (resolution 120 (1956) of 4 November 1956). Similar configurations could be observed with regard to the holding of emergency special sessions on the Republic of the Congo (resolution 157 (1960) of 17 September 1960: opposition of Poland and the USSR), on the conflict between India and Pakistan on account of East Pakistan/Bangladesh (resolution 303 (1971) of 6 December 1971: abstention of France, Poland, the USSR and the United Kingdom), and on Afghanistan (resolution 462 (1980) of 9 January 1980: opposition of the German Democratic Republic and the USSR). Total emancipation from the Security Council is reached where the Secretary-General convenes an emergency special meeting at the request of a United Nations Member acting with the support of a majority in the General Assembly. The seventh emergency special session on Palestine (1980-1982) was in fact initiated by Senegal, the eighth emergency special session on Namibia (1981) goes back to a request by Zimbabwe, and the tenth emergency special session was solicited by Qatar as the Chair of the Group of Arab States at the United Nations. It stands to reason that in such instances the overwhelming weight of third world countries can manifest itself to its full extent. Urgent matters may also be dealt with during the ordinary sessions of the General Assembly if the Security Council takes no action owing to the negative vote of a permanent member. (A prominent example is provided by General Assembly resolution 41/38 of 20 November 1986, dealing with the aerial and naval attack on Libya by the United States.)
Although the shifting of responsibilities to the General Assembly may not be consistent with the original intentions of the drafters of the Charter, it is today fully accepted that emergency special sessions have become an integral part of the legal order of the United Nations. On the other hand, the need for the holding of such sessions has considerably decreased, as for many years the General Assembly is frequently in session much beyond the usual period from September to December. On a regular basis sessions are resumed in plenary meetings for short periods in the months before the start of a new session in September. In the early years, Member States were not represented in New York throughout the year. Today, urgent matters can be dealt with by the General Assembly at short notice. As already pointed out, the tenth emergency special session, which started in 1997, has not yet been concluded and has for many years operated alongside the regular sessions of the General Assembly. (In its Advisory Opinion on the Wall case (I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 152, at para. 34), the ICJ did not raise any objections against that practice.) It has become a special forum to deliberate on the policies and practices of Israel with regard to the occupied Palestinian territories, totally changing its character from a meeting convened to discuss urgent matters to a permanent, but intermittent conference on a topic of paramount interest to the international community.
Obviously, the crucial element of resolution 377 A (V) was the affirmation that the General Assembly may, if deemed appropriate by it, recommend collective action, including the use of force. In this core sense, the resolution has been implemented only once in the Korean crisis. By resolution 498 (V) of 1 February 1951 it made a finding to the effect that the People’s Republic of China had engaged in aggression in Korea (para. 1) and “call[ed] upon all States and authorities to continue to lend every assistance to the United Nations action in Korea” (para. 4), which of course meant military assistance. The resolution does not explicitly refer to the Uniting for Peace resolution, but it emphasizes that the Security Council, “because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, has failed to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security” (preamble). Thus, the wording is exactly copied from resolution 377 A (V). The establishment of the peacekeeping operation First United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF I) by resolution 1000 (ES-I) of 5 November 1956 with a view to monitoring the frontline between Israel and Egypt does not come within the same category since UNEF I had no combat function to discharge but was meant to neutralize the conflict solely by its presence between the two opposing parties in accordance with the “classic” peacekeeping concept which was given birth on that occasion. On the whole, it is not easy to draw the demarcation line between “measures” contemplated specifically by resolution 377 A (V) and other measures which the General Assembly may recommend within the framework of its general mandate without any hindrance. According to the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ in the Certain Expenses case, the exclusive powers of the Security Council are confined to coercive or enforcement action (Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, paragraph 2, of the Charter), Advisory Opinion of 20 July 1962, I.C.J. Reports 1962, p. 151, at 164), but the ICJ did not discuss specifically the impact of resolution 377 A (V). In this connection, the question arises, inter alia, how the imposition of an embargo, as formerly practiced by the General Assembly in a sustained fashion to the detriment of South Africa, is to be characterized (this practice commenced with resolution 41/35 F of 10 November 1986). In any event, it has become a regular feature of resolutions of the General Assembly with regard to armed conflicts to call upon the parties to desist from any hostilities and to withdraw their troops to their own territories (see, for instance, resolution 62/243 of 14 March 2008, on the situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan). Such requests are not considered as requiring any particular legitimation under resolution 377 A (V).
Resolution 377 A (V) has a potential that could subvert the well-equilibrated balance of power within the United Nations, a potential that is not disclosed in a recent description of the role and authority of the General Assembly (see resolution 60/286 of 8 September 2006, annex, para. 1). But it would actually be used against the Security Council only in case of general dissatisfaction with the policies of the permanent members. Notwithstanding their sheer numerical superiority, the many Members of the United Nations are much too weak to attempt to challenge the decisions made at the Security Council. Any application of Uniting for Peace with a view to taking enforcement action would at least need the support of one of the permanent members. To date, resolution 498 (V) of 1951 remains the only example of a situation where the General Assembly, at that time under dominating Western influence, recommended taking such action, notwithstanding the firm resistance of a permanent member.
Different players' take might be shifting.
A surreal footnote to a most surreal week in world affairs.
While hell broke loose in Ukraine , Western and Russian diplomats -- not to mention hard-line emissaries from Tehran -- sat calmly together in Vienna , dotting i's on a prospective reborn Iran nuclear agreement.
"Chances are better than even that the deal will be revived," says Eric Brewer , a senior director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. "We should know by the middle of this week."
That could bring some respite for oil consumers who have watched crude prices climb more than 20% this year, with sanctions on Russia threatening to push them further. Iran can likely increase production by more than 1 million barrels a day this year if it exits the nuclear sanctions penalty box. That would raise global production by about 1.5%.
Maybe 200,000 more barrels a day could be eked out of another U.S. - sanctioned oil power: Venezuela . President Joe Biden and his administration have quietly eased the so-called maximum pressure campaign that Donald Trump imposed on Nicolas Maduro's regime, allowing more crude to leak out to China and other nondollar buyers. " Venezuela has found ways to adapt to sanctions, and the U.S. has spent less energy enforcing them," says Francisco Rodriguez , a fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations .
When he took office, Biden pledged to revive the multilateral Iran nuclear accord hammered out by Barack Obama and abrogated by Trump. Supporters say the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the formal name for the Iran deal, remains the best mechanism for keeping the Islamic Republic away from a nuclear bomb. "It's impossible to 'solve' the Iran nuclear issue," Brewer says. "JCPOA puts as much time and space as possible between Iran and nuclear weapons."
Biden's plans hit a snag last June when Iranian elections brought Ebrahim Raisi to power as president. He is a purported strict conservative with close ties to the country's religious leaders. Tehran walked away from talks until November. The prospect of selling more oil at eight-year highs nudged them back to the table, however.
The U.S. has its own cause for urgency. Iran is thought to be within a few weeks of having enough enriched uranium for a nuke. A deliverable weapon, mounted on a missile, would take longer, Brewer says. Tehran's progress is focusing minds, nevertheless.
The last sticking point in talks appears to be Iran's push for guarantees that the next U.S. president won't repeat Trump's actions and tear up whatever Biden signs now. The U.S. can't give that assurance: A formal treaty would require two-thirds approval by the Senate , a goal clearly out of reach as far as Iran is concerned.
Chief Iranian negotiator Ali Bagheri flew back to Tehran last week for consultations, leaving his U.S. , European Union , U.K. , Russian, and Chinese counterparts hanging in Vienna . Observers predict Iran will settle for keeping more centrifuges than last time so that their nuclear efforts are easier to pull out of mothballs. "What we hear from well- informed people in Tehran is that we really are close to a deal," says Scott Modell , managing director of Rapidan Energy Group .
An accord could take effect within a month and boost Iran's crude output to 3.6 to 3.8 million barrels a day by late 2022, from about 2,500 now, Modell says. That's not enough to reverse oil's bull run, but it "could be temporarily macro bearish," he predicts.
Venezuela's oil output has suffered no less than Iran's from U.S. sanctions. It dropped from more than 2 million barrels a day when Trump took office in 2017 to about 500,000 in 2020.
A grand political bargain looks still tougher with Caracas than with Tehran . The concession Washington demands from Maduro is existential: new elections that could unseat him. Biden is constrained on his side by a growing Venezuelan émigré voting bloc -- and Cubans who share their anti-socialist grievances -- in the politically key state of Florida . "Being tough on Maduro has paid off electorally," Rodriguez says.
Bumper prices and laxer enforcement has still bumped Venezuelan output to some 750,000 barrels a day starting last summer. The country could squeeze a bit more before needing large investment in depleted fields and infrastructure. " There's still some low-hanging fruit there," Rapidan's Modell says.
Extra volumes from Iran and Venezuela won't offset major disruptions in Russia , which exports more than 3 million barrels of oil a day. But an extra 1 or 1.5 million barrels isn't small change for a market that famously swings on the margins.
Stay tuned.
Write to editors@barrons.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-27-22 1705ET
Copyright (c) 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
No worries, I'm sure we'll discover a rash of "suicides" in the future, some being contemplated as we speak.
Supposedly debunked, but definite sh going down and more sh on the way.
Is Gazprom Financial Director Found Dead or Alive? Death Hoax Debunked: If you are aware of the online world, what’s happening in different parts of the country then you notice that Gazprom who is the financial director was not dead. The person who was dead. His name was Alexander Tyuliakov. There is some misunderstanding with the people. The one who was the owner of the company, the one who was the largest publicly listed natural gas company in the world, and the largest company in Russia by revenue has been found dead by suicide in St. Petersburg is wrong. Yes, you heard it correctly. Gazprom was not dead instead a 61-year-old person whose name is Alexander Tyulakov who was a Deputy General Director of the Unified Settlement Center (UCC) has died. A misunderstanding was take place between the people.
You just stated the solution, probably the best one at this point; the group of enablers and ones sucking up the spoils with him, seeing a threat to theirs (and maybe a chance to become a top dog), turns and convinces a jumping out of his own window.
Can this be done quicker than history has shown us? Before massive amount of damage has been inflicted? Hope so, but not counting on it.
I agree. The problem is that it doesn't stop the major income for Putin and his cronies. It will be a hit more than the minimal sanctions they've been doing (which Putin already was ready for and ignored). When you have 60-65% of Putin and his group's ATM in energy exports and 35-40% of EU energy imports from Russia, it creates a conundrum that Putin has created, counted on, and now using to his advantage.
I haven't even got confirmation that they have fully decided on which "certain" banks to be blocked. But watching the futures, it isn't showing that it is going to hit that ATM. A couple % hit is nothing these days and easily compensated by our guys (short term anyway). Might give a trade or two in the U, but go much farther, not sure. Never know though and be ready for anything.
If they shut down Putin et al ATM, we will see a definite and more prominent effect immediately. Right now I don't see that. Of course Europe would be hit really hard and take the brunt of those kind of actions doing 10 times more trade with Russia than the US, but it still would have a major effect everywhere.
The top dogs that are in this world club that control 99% should be kicking Putin to the curb, or at least put the MF in time out for quite some time. I have my doubts that will happen for that will give those top dogs some pain and of course would not just trickle down to the population, but be a flood and damn break.
I don't think Putin would cut off his own ATM (maybe some short term barking, but not anything real permanent), that really would put him in position to be kicked to the curb for good. Egotistical tyrants like Putin won't stop their self indulgence and self enrichment no matter what it costs or how many lives they effect under them, but need to be stopped and definitely not given what they're after on any degree or level (or be sympathized with).
There is a wild card in all of this and that is I don't think Putin expected as much resistance to him as he gotten (he was just working on Ukraine to be given to him, and it almost was). I think he only had a Plan A and any plan b,c,d was just a subset of Plan A. There is no Plan B, any Plan B is a threat to his existence.
Ukraine crisis live Ukraine
Russia-Ukraine latest news: Western allies to cut some Russian banks out of Swift payments system – live
US, UK and EU, including Germany, sign joint statement saying they want to cut institutions off from ‘international financial system’
21m ago
17:48
The news that western allies will ban Russian banks from the Swift global payments network is a break through for the countries that had initially pushed for the ban.
The UK and Spain were early supporters of the move to lock Russia out of Swift, the main secure messaging system that banks use to make rapid and secure cross-border payments, but Germany was a key holdout.
On Saturday, however, Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, said the country was working on a “targeted and functional restriction” on Swift. Hours later, the joint statement by western allies, including Germany, was released, with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announcing the measure.
It is a victory for Ukraine, which had pleaded since Thursday for countries to ban Russia – foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba going so far as to say that European and US politicians would have “blood on their hands” if they did not.
But it remains unclear how widespread the ban will be. The statement from the west referred to removing “selected Russian banks” from Swift, but gave no specifics.
The US, like Germany, had initially been sceptical about the Swift ban. The Observer’s economics editor, Phillip Inman, wrote that “one reason is that the impact on Russian businesses might not be so serious”:
The head of a large Russian bank, VTB, said recently he could use other channels for payments, such as phones, messaging apps or email. Russian banks could also route payments via countries that have not imposed sanctions, such as China, which has set up its own payments system to rival Swift.
Updated at 5.53pm ES
Ukraine crisis live Ukraine
Russia-Ukraine latest news: Western allies to cut some Russian banks out of Swift payments system – live
US, UK and EU, including Germany, sign joint statement saying they want to cut institutions off from ‘international financial system’
21m ago
17:48
The news that western allies will ban Russian banks from the Swift global payments network is a break through for the countries that had initially pushed for the ban.
The UK and Spain were early supporters of the move to lock Russia out of Swift, the main secure messaging system that banks use to make rapid and secure cross-border payments, but Germany was a key holdout.
On Saturday, however, Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, said the country was working on a “targeted and functional restriction” on Swift. Hours later, the joint statement by western allies, including Germany, was released, with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announcing the measure.
It is a victory for Ukraine, which had pleaded since Thursday for countries to ban Russia – foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba going so far as to say that European and US politicians would have “blood on their hands” if they did not.
But it remains unclear how widespread the ban will be. The statement from the west referred to removing “selected Russian banks” from Swift, but gave no specifics.
The US, like Germany, had initially been sceptical about the Swift ban. The Observer’s economics editor, Phillip Inman, wrote that “one reason is that the impact on Russian businesses might not be so serious”:
The head of a large Russian bank, VTB, said recently he could use other channels for payments, such as phones, messaging apps or email. Russian banks could also route payments via countries that have not imposed sanctions, such as China, which has set up its own payments system to rival Swift.
Updated at 5.53pm ES
The New GOP is Trump, and this is what they are and sympathize with. Scary stuff.
Courtesy to blackhawks post
investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=168018775
For reference: Trump spent more than four years undermining Ukraine and promoting Russian interests
When you hear idiots trying to make the "Putin would never have invaded if Trump were president" argument...
Trump's campaign manager was a pro-Putin stooge who previously helped the Kremlin install a puppet government in Ukraine.
Trump's former campaign chief worked for an anti-NATO party and a politician who fled the country amid charges of corruption and collusion with Russia.
insert-text-here
Trump stated that Putin was a stronger leader than the U.S. president.
During the forum — where the candidates appeared separately in front of an audience made up largely of veterans — Trump suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been a better leader than President Barack Obama.
insert-text-here
Trump had the Republican Party platform changed to water down support for Ukraine.
Diana Denman, a Republican delegate who supported arming U.S. allies in Ukraine, has told people that Trump aide J.D. Gordon said at the Republican Convention in 2016 that Trump directed him to support weakening that position in the official platform.
insert-text-here
Trump attempted to extort President Zelenskyy by refusing to provide assistance to Ukraine.
Trump’s personal goal, however, was to hold Ukraine hostage and risk the lives of its people and soldiers until Zelensky would agree to stand in front of a television camera and lie for the benefit of one Donald J. Trump.
insert-text-here
After Russia was expelled from the G8 for invading Crimea, Trump repeatedly praised Putin on the world stage and publicly stated that he wanted Russia back in the G8.
The UK and Canada have opposed Russia's return to the G7, deepening a rift over US President Donald Trump's wish for the country to rejoin. ... The president said the G7's "outdated group of countries" should be expanded to include others, including Russia.
insert-text-here
Trump publicly stated that he trusted Putin more than he trusted U.S. intelligence agencies.
In a statement issued by his Save America campaign, Mr Trump also said he would trust Russia over "sleezebags" and "lowlifes" [in] the US intelligence agencies.
insert-text-here
Trump repeatedly undermined NATO...
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Trump’s European tour was how much the tone of near-docile respect to Putin, and to Russia, stood in stark contrast to the insults he dished out over the previous six days to the EU, his declared foe, and to Nato, May and Angela Merkel.
insert-text-here
...to the point where he was threatening to completely pull the U.S. out of the treaty, which would have been Putin's dream scenario.
Donald Trump was considering pulling out of Nato and cutting the US’s alliance with South Korea if he won the 2020 election, according to an account of his private meetings with top aides.
insert-text-here
Even now Trump is sitting on the sidelines cheering on Putin as he invades Ukraine.
Less than a day after Putin ordered Russian troops to enter parts of Ukraine he claims are independent, Trump went on a conservative radio show and called the move "genius."
insert-text-here
Putin didn't need to invade Ukraine when Trump was president because Trump was already giving him everything he wanted on a silver platter. If Trump had won re-election, there's a good chance that he would have actually tried to pull the U.S. out of NATO, which would have left Europe completely at Putin's mercy. Why would Putin invade Ukraine when there was a chance that could have happened?
Putin only chose now to invade because after four years of Trump's weak leadership, Biden was rebuilding international support against Russia. Putin's invasion is an act of desperation.
And the reason why LAC got some activity yesterday.
The Thacker Pass lithium mine project north of Winnemucca came closer to becoming a reality Friday when the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection issued three permits for the project: the Water Pollution Control Permit, Mine Reclamation Permit and Class II Air Quality Operating Permit.
Lithium Americas Corp. said in a press release that these are “the final key state-level permits for the Thacker Pass lithium project.”
The comment periods on these three permits closed in November and December. With some permit requests, NDEP may issue a decision on the permits within a couple weeks of the close of the comment period, but the Thacker Pass project inspired a lot of comments, and NDEP added a couple extra weeks to allow for additional public input and spent some extra time doing their review.
“NDEP conducted extensive reviews of the mine site plan, verified the air models and calculations for the Class II Air Quality Operating Permit, assessed required bonding for land disturbance and reclamation as part of the Mining Reclamation Permit, and authorized mine operations and ore processing for the Water Pollution Control Permit, including setting monitoring and reporting requirements,” the Lithium Americas press release said.
The deadline to request appeals to the permits is March 7.
There continues to be ongoing litigation over the Thacker Pass project.
The Bureau of Land Management issued a Record of Decision on Jan. 15, 2021. In February 2021, claims were filed against the BLM. In the third quarter of 2021, injunction requests over Lithium Americas’ plan to begin cultural assessment and pre-construction work were denied, and a motion to reconsider was also denied in late 2021.
Recently, the federal court partially approved a request for the inclusion of additional documents from the BLM. As a result of the additional documentation requests, the ROD appeal process is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2022, according to Lithium Americas.
Tim Crowley, Lithium Nevada Corp. vice president of government and community relations, said the company still needs a ruling from the state water engineer on water rights, and an incidental eagle take permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These are both expected fairly soon.
Crowley said they hope to begin cultural treatment work at the site this spring, and they are on track to begin pre-construction work at the end of this year.
“With the final key state environmental permits in hand, Lithium Americas can begin to advance Thacker Pass towards construction,” said Jonathan Evans, Lithium Americas president and CEO. “Thacker Pass provides an opportunity to enable a U.S.-based battery supply chain for the growing electric vehicle market. Our commitment to developing Thacker Pass in the most environmentally responsible way is demonstrated from over a decade of conducting the necessary planning, design and engagement.”
Thacker Pass is the largest known lithium deposit in the United States, and it is expected to have about 300 full-time employees and produce about 60,000 tons of lithium a year when it reaches full production.
elkodaily.com/mining/permits-approved-for-thacker-pass-lithium-mine
Some info for one of my few Long holdings (sizable) and has given many, many ops of trading over the last yr+ (inc yesterday). I originally purchased for about $10 share. Like most things, has done some exuberance and correcting, but is still above the 200 and still holding a long term trend. (although many things going on currently could change that). Just thought I'd share, for whatever it's worth.
Lithium Americas: An Update On The Court Case For Thacker Pass
Feb. 17, 2022 1:55 PM ET Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC)
Austin Craig
Summary
We cover timeline updates to the legal case at Thacker Pass. This might be useful for options traders to know.
General market fears are explored to include inflation.
Big picture lithium demand is covered. This demand will push projects via funding. If you build it they will come.
I've noted confusion on various forums concerning dates for Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Thacker Pass project and the associated lawsuit. The purpose of this article is to give the reader updates on the timelines the court is looking at, some general musings on inflation, and corresponding updates to big picture lithium demand by major players. Consider this article a minor update.
Recent Developments & Court Dates
Reading in the forums you will encounter conjecture concerning court dates, which range from the Thacker Pass lawsuit will be wrapped up in February to April. First, we must realize that the court case has morphed into two actions: We can see the case and then an appeal for the injunction by looking at Pacer Legal.
Lithium Americas Thacker Pass Lawsuit
Thacker Pass Lawsuit
Source: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/
Checking on the older of the cases (3:21-cv-00080-MMD-CLB Bartell Ranch LLC et al v. McCullough, et al) which most investors are watching, we see an Event filed date of 1/26/2022 and a Due/Set date of 3/04/2022.
174 Motions Deadline 01/26/2022 03/04/2022
(Source: Pacer Legal)
This tells us no court conclusion till sometime after this (at the earliest) and you still have legal delays and possibly additional appeals to be dealt with. A good guess would be April-May onwards for case #1. It also appears a hail Mary appeal has been filed for the preliminary injunction (Per Case 3:21-cv-00080-MMD-CLB). The odds of this appeal being successful are very low in my opinion, but it is worth noting for general situational awareness.
01/18/2022 4 Filed clerk order (Deputy Clerk: LCC): A review of the record reflects that this appeal, filed January 6, 2022, is a preliminary injunction appeal. Accordingly, Ninth Circuit Rule 3-3 shall apply.
(Source: Pacer Legal, Case 3:21-cv-00080-MMD-CLB)
We can also see a bit of a civil war within the Plaintiff ranks as multiple lawyers leave the case.
Lawyers leave the case (Pacer legal system)
(Source: Pacer Legal, Case 3:21-cv-00080-MMD-CLB)
In the main case, Obama appointee, Judge Du, did mention that she wants to wrap up the case by construction season. Per the December 27th Pacer court document #155 - Page 6 we see:
Lithium Americas - court timeline aspirations
Court Timeline Aspirations (Pacer Legal)
(Source: Pacer Legal - Highlights are the authors)
Typically, the construction season would be after the weather in northern Nevada turns favorable in April for construction. Hence we see the intent of the court to try to get this resolved somewhere near this time frame give or take due to delays.
A Realistic View of Market Risk
While I'm going to get to the big picture view of lithium, one cannot ignore the overall market trend. We are in a strange period where the government has really backed itself into a corner. Interest rates are abnormally low. Supply chains are disrupted and continue to be challenged. The labor market is a really strange one with "Help Wanted" signs everywhere and very good wages for unskilled labor, yet, somehow these jobs go unfilled. I find that most perplexing.
I've noticed prices for food have skyrocketed. Some of my personal observations are: Canned black olives are up 104%. Canned mushrooms are about the same. A frozen pizza which was $5.75 or low $6's is now $8. Of course, fuel is up as well. Housing has gone loco and rent is up 71% for some listings. The used car supply is tight, forcing consumers towards new cars. Meanwhile, new cars are being impacted by a semiconductor shortage. Frankly, it is rough times for anyone economically challenged. Something must give and the Fed is terrified of doing anything meaningful before midterms.
The Fed realizes that if they do what is necessary, they will send the nation into a recession. Remember Federal Reserve Chairman Volcker from the 1980's? He was not afraid to do what had to be done. Recessions are normal: they are part of the business cycle. During prosperity, weaker businesses can survive but eventually the party ends. These businesses fold or merge into stronger companies and the cycle continues. Chairman Volcker indeed shook the tree (perhaps to the point of insanity), but I see some parallels to modern times. Per the article.
"Many economists still argued that the Fed could reduce inflation gently, without causing a recession, by raising interest rates just enough to slow economic activity. But Mr. Volcker said inflation had become a self-fulfilling prophecy. People had come to expect prices and wages to rise, so they borrowed and spent more and demanded larger pay increases, and prices and wages rose.
The Fed had been promising to crack down on inflation for more than a decade, but it had repeatedly caved into intense political pressure so as to avoid a recession. Mr. Volcker decided a dramatic gesture was necessary to convince the public that this time would be different."
My best guess is they continue to hint at small raises; then we start seeing them as the quarters roll by, but frankly little 1/4-point or even 1/2-point raises are just a drop in the bucket to fight inflation. Some economists even say (and I concur) that the Fed is backed into a corner.
On the flip side, I have come across some discussions where people think that easing supply chains and productivity increases might result in lower inflation. I suppose time will tell. Keep some powder dry just in case.
Lithium Demand
Moving back on topic, let's look at some big picture lithium demand. It is this demand that will push project funding and acquisitions. The cream of the crop is being picked over by bigger fish. Millennial Lithium was acquired by Lithium Americas. The Chinese bought Neo Lithium and CATL is still on the prowl. Let's look at demand and lithium news. When you are reading over this, realize a sea change is coming. One day you will be able to tell your kids that you grew up when electric cars were not the dominant form of travel:
Unconfirmed reports place Ford at investing $40-50 billion in EV.
A Porsche Taycan goes coast to coast on 2.5 hours of charging.
Firestone offers charging stations.
LG Energy to spend $1.7 billion on battery factory in the US.
Glencore & Britishvolt to build lithium / cobalt recycling plant in the U.K.
US Gov to put $5 billion into EV chargers nationwide over five years. An additional $2.5 billion will be released later on. (Total $7.5 billion)
EV models will double by 2024.
(Visualcapitalist.com)
(Source: Visualcapitalist)
EV Models to Double by 2024
Conclusion
The above court timelines for the case could be useful for options traders to know concerning what time frames they might trade around.
The real catalyst for Lithium Americas is going to be the ruling on the legal case concerning Thacker Pass in Nevada. If the BLM decision of approval is upheld via a successful court case outcome, I think the stock will react in a violently positive fashion. The inverse is also true. Yet, one must wonder what happens to lithium investments in America if the court happens to side with the prosecution? Given that many mines can take 10 years to obtain permits, fully fund and build out, a negative ruling might have a very negative impact on aspiring lithium miners across the United States. Hence (with the support of the Biden administration and an Obama appointed Judge Du) I view the odds favorable that the court will uphold the BLM approval for Lithium Americas.
This article was written by
Austin Craig
Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of LAC either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Additional disclosure: We also own long calls.
We have sold covered calls as well.
Lithium Americas: An Update On The Court Case For Thacker Pass
Feb. 17, 2022 1:55 PM ET Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC)
Austin Craig
Summary
We cover timeline updates to the legal case at Thacker Pass. This might be useful for options traders to know.
General market fears are explored to include inflation.
Big picture lithium demand is covered. This demand will push projects via funding. If you build it they will come.
I've noted confusion on various forums concerning dates for Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Thacker Pass project and the associated lawsuit. The purpose of this article is to give the reader updates on the timelines the court is looking at, some general musings on inflation, and corresponding updates to big picture lithium demand by major players. Consider this article a minor update.
Recent Developments & Court Dates
Reading in the forums you will encounter conjecture concerning court dates, which range from the Thacker Pass lawsuit will be wrapped up in February to April. First, we must realize that the court case has morphed into two actions: We can see the case and then an appeal for the injunction by looking at Pacer Legal.
Lithium Americas Thacker Pass Lawsuit
Thacker Pass Lawsuit
Source: pacer.uscourts.gov
Checking on the older of the cases (3:21-cv-00080-MMD-CLB Bartell Ranch LLC et al v. McCullough, et al) which most investors are watching, we see an Event filed date of 1/26/2022 and a Due/Set date of 3/04/2022.
174 Motions Deadline 01/26/2022 03/04/2022
(Source: Pacer Legal)
This tells us no court conclusion till sometime after this (at the earliest) and you still have legal delays and possibly additional appeals to be dealt with. A good guess would be April-May onwards for case #1. It also appears a hail Mary appeal has been filed for the preliminary injunction (Per Case 3:21-cv-00080-MMD-CLB). The odds of this appeal being successful are very low in my opinion, but it is worth noting for general situational awareness.
01/18/2022 4 Filed clerk order (Deputy Clerk: LCC): A review of the record reflects that this appeal, filed January 6, 2022, is a preliminary injunction appeal. Accordingly, Ninth Circuit Rule 3-3 shall apply.
(Source: Pacer Legal, Case 3:21-cv-00080-MMD-CLB)
We can also see a bit of a civil war within the Plaintiff ranks as multiple lawyers leave the case.
Lawyers leave the case (Pacer legal system)
(Source: Pacer Legal, Case 3:21-cv-00080-MMD-CLB)
In the main case, Obama appointee, Judge Du, did mention that she wants to wrap up the case by construction season. Per the December 27th Pacer court document #155 - Page 6 we see:
Lithium Americas - court timeline aspirations
Court Timeline Aspirations (Pacer Legal)
(Source: Pacer Legal - Highlights are the authors)
Typically, the construction season would be after the weather in northern Nevada turns favorable in April for construction. Hence we see the intent of the court to try to get this resolved somewhere near this time frame give or take due to delays.
A Realistic View of Market Risk
While I'm going to get to the big picture view of lithium, one cannot ignore the overall market trend. We are in a strange period where the government has really backed itself into a corner. Interest rates are abnormally low. Supply chains are disrupted and continue to be challenged. The labor market is a really strange one with "Help Wanted" signs everywhere and very good wages for unskilled labor, yet, somehow these jobs go unfilled. I find that most perplexing.
I've noticed prices for food have skyrocketed. Some of my personal observations are: Canned black olives are up 104%. Canned mushrooms are about the same. A frozen pizza which was $5.75 or low $6's is now $8. Of course, fuel is up as well. Housing has gone loco and rent is up 71% for some listings. The used car supply is tight, forcing consumers towards new cars. Meanwhile, new cars are being impacted by a semiconductor shortage. Frankly, it is rough times for anyone economically challenged. Something must give and the Fed is terrified of doing anything meaningful before midterms.
The Fed realizes that if they do what is necessary, they will send the nation into a recession. Remember Federal Reserve Chairman Volcker from the 1980's? He was not afraid to do what had to be done. Recessions are normal: they are part of the business cycle. During prosperity, weaker businesses can survive but eventually the party ends. These businesses fold or merge into stronger companies and the cycle continues. Chairman Volcker indeed shook the tree (perhaps to the point of insanity), but I see some parallels to modern times. Per the article.
"Many economists still argued that the Fed could reduce inflation gently, without causing a recession, by raising interest rates just enough to slow economic activity. But Mr. Volcker said inflation had become a self-fulfilling prophecy. People had come to expect prices and wages to rise, so they borrowed and spent more and demanded larger pay increases, and prices and wages rose.
The Fed had been promising to crack down on inflation for more than a decade, but it had repeatedly caved into intense political pressure so as to avoid a recession. Mr. Volcker decided a dramatic gesture was necessary to convince the public that this time would be different."
My best guess is they continue to hint at small raises; then we start seeing them as the quarters roll by, but frankly little 1/4-point or even 1/2-point raises are just a drop in the bucket to fight inflation. Some economists even say (and I concur) that the Fed is backed into a corner.
On the flip side, I have come across some discussions where people think that easing supply chains and productivity increases might result in lower inflation. I suppose time will tell. Keep some powder dry just in case.
Lithium Demand
Moving back on topic, let's look at some big picture lithium demand. It is this demand that will push project funding and acquisitions. The cream of the crop is being picked over by bigger fish. Millennial Lithium was acquired by Lithium Americas. The Chinese bought Neo Lithium and CATL is still on the prowl. Let's look at demand and lithium news. When you are reading over this, realize a sea change is coming. One day you will be able to tell your kids that you grew up when electric cars were not the dominant form of travel:
Unconfirmed reports place Ford at investing $40-50 billion in EV.
A Porsche Taycan goes coast to coast on 2.5 hours of charging.
Firestone offers charging stations.
LG Energy to spend $1.7 billion on battery factory in the US.
Glencore & Britishvolt to build lithium / cobalt recycling plant in the U.K.
US Gov to put $5 billion into EV chargers nationwide over five years. An additional $2.5 billion will be released later on. (Total $7.5 billion)
EV models will double by 2024.
EV Models to Double by 2024 (Visualcapitalist.com)
(Source: Visualcapitalist)
Conclusion
The above court timelines for the case could be useful for options traders to know concerning what time frames they might trade around.
The real catalyst for Lithium Americas is going to be the ruling on the legal case concerning Thacker Pass in Nevada. If the BLM decision of approval is upheld via a successful court case outcome, I think the stock will react in a violently positive fashion. The inverse is also true. Yet, one must wonder what happens to lithium investments in America if the court happens to side with the prosecution? Given that many mines can take 10 years to obtain permits, fully fund and build out, a negative ruling might have a very negative impact on aspiring lithium miners across the United States. Hence (with the support of the Biden administration and an Obama appointed Judge Du) I view the odds favorable that the court will uphold the BLM approval for Lithium Americas.
This article was written by
Austin Craig
Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of LAC either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Additional disclosure: We also own long calls.
We have sold covered calls as well.
The Thacker Pass lithium mine project north of Winnemucca came closer to becoming a reality Friday when the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection issued three permits for the project: the Water Pollution Control Permit, Mine Reclamation Permit and Class II Air Quality Operating Permit.
Lithium Americas Corp. said in a press release that these are “the final key state-level permits for the Thacker Pass lithium project.”
The comment periods on these three permits closed in November and December. With some permit requests, NDEP may issue a decision on the permits within a couple weeks of the close of the comment period, but the Thacker Pass project inspired a lot of comments, and NDEP added a couple extra weeks to allow for additional public input and spent some extra time doing their review.
“NDEP conducted extensive reviews of the mine site plan, verified the air models and calculations for the Class II Air Quality Operating Permit, assessed required bonding for land disturbance and reclamation as part of the Mining Reclamation Permit, and authorized mine operations and ore processing for the Water Pollution Control Permit, including setting monitoring and reporting requirements,” the Lithium Americas press release said.
The deadline to request appeals to the permits is March 7.
There continues to be ongoing litigation over the Thacker Pass project.
The Bureau of Land Management issued a Record of Decision on Jan. 15, 2021. In February 2021, claims were filed against the BLM. In the third quarter of 2021, injunction requests over Lithium Americas’ plan to begin cultural assessment and pre-construction work were denied, and a motion to reconsider was also denied in late 2021.
Recently, the federal court partially approved a request for the inclusion of additional documents from the BLM. As a result of the additional documentation requests, the ROD appeal process is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2022, according to Lithium Americas.
Tim Crowley, Lithium Nevada Corp. vice president of government and community relations, said the company still needs a ruling from the state water engineer on water rights, and an incidental eagle take permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These are both expected fairly soon.
Crowley said they hope to begin cultural treatment work at the site this spring, and they are on track to begin pre-construction work at the end of this year.
“With the final key state environmental permits in hand, Lithium Americas can begin to advance Thacker Pass towards construction,” said Jonathan Evans, Lithium Americas president and CEO. “Thacker Pass provides an opportunity to enable a U.S.-based battery supply chain for the growing electric vehicle market. Our commitment to developing Thacker Pass in the most environmentally responsible way is demonstrated from over a decade of conducting the necessary planning, design and engagement.”
Thacker Pass is the largest known lithium deposit in the United States, and it is expected to have about 300 full-time employees and produce about 60,000 tons of lithium a year when it reaches full production.
https://elkodaily.com/mining/permits-approved-for-thacker-pass-lithium-mine
No nothing of this nature ends well for most. Might finally get rid of aggressors or hold them back a bit, but can't take back the aggression once it has done it's damage. Rebuilding is long and slow and is fraught with unknown hazards. Of course many will never see it, not having lived through it.
Quotes from Judge Reggie Walton today;
"We're on a dangerous slide in America," Judge Reggie Walton said during the sentencing of Adam Johnson, "when one side of our country, when the other side wins, rather than accepting it as the American way, believes that they can do whatever to get who they want in power sitting in the White House.
"That's what we see in countries like what we're experiencing now in Ukraine," Walton added. "That's where we're heading if we don't do something about it."
Walton has previously expressed concern about the future of the US political landscape, telling another defendant earlier this week that he had been reading several books on the formation of civil wars and was concerned that history could repeat itself.
Walton suggested on Friday the defendant read two of those books -- "How Civil Wars Start" and "The Next Civil War" -- and wondered whether there was "anything we as judges can do to stem this hostile environment, this partisan environment, that is ripping America apart."
Something that flew right over someone's head, someone that was already dead -- from the neck up. Manipulated by ones who will do anything for power. There is no bar too low.
Johnson left the court Friday smiling for cameras outside the court, seemingly striking the same pose he took with Pelosi's lectern during the riot.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/25/politics/january-6-rioter-posed-with-pelosi-lectern-sentenced/index.html
Sure is holding his breath and stamping his feet a lot. Him and TFG are like two peas in a pod. Problem is that so many people have their lives terminated or scarred forever when tyrants run amuck.
He's having a bunch of those.
Russia threatens 'military and political consequences' if Finland, Sweden try joining NATO
BY LEXI LONAS - 02/25/22 12:53 PM EST 4,634
https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/595853-russia-threatens-military-and-political-consequences-if-finland?rl=1
A regular Hanoi Hannah.
Wow. Wish I caught that move. Wasn't even on the radar. Wonder what kind of action it's going to be Mon. if it continues. Still not up to the high of just a couple of months ago and just recently a new low for it. $117 for the height of exuberance yr ago.
I don't know anything more than anyone else, probably a lot less than some here. But get lucky sometimes and sometimes just stay at the Holiday Inn (old commercial). LOL.
Muddled around Cyber arena, TENB, ZS, PANW, MNDT, but only got a couple of good trades in any of those, and a few bad ones too. Just couldn't get in sync for some reason. Did keep a few for maybe a swing of PANW (very few), it's up about 20% over the last 2 days (have got a portion of that), and I kept some MNDT, came back and it seems to have done alright once I left it alone.
My KRBN stopped out for a loss, haven't gone back in yet, but there is market there, with the big oil and others trading them around fluently and frequently, along with dressing themselves up in the green cloak over the black. Quite the racket there.
Metal and mining with AA and LAC (own LAC long over a yr now and trade periodically). Got some action with LAC and got frustrated with AA. Kept looking for the dip, faked out, watching the SPY and DOW with everything and just got in higher, loosing some of my gains. Still did OK overall I guess and should of kept some when I left it, but definitely could of done better with it.
Got back in some WFC for a swing, reversal today there.
A couple of never ending story stocks in the tech world (took some losses there a while back), but today some action with LWLG and last but definitely not least, in fact most of the bulk of the action for me today was IONQ. Darn thing was pretty active, kept me busy big time. Ended up putting it on a 25 tic time frame, just where it looked the best for me. Don't know if it's going to be like that on Mon., but will be watching for it.
Had to walk away early, sometimes one just has to walk away, at least I did today. Keep the soul strong to fight another day.
This sh is just absurd. What the heck are they doing. Took my double digit gains today and going to meditate for a few days. This is just downright disgusting. I guess its one big final dig and take before the recession. What a waste of resources for just a few.
Might as well throw out the charts, since we threw away any fundamentals a while back. Just get an air gauge for this fake sh.
Take just the S&P by sectors. The low ones are single digit increases. But those like Energy, Utilities, RE at 5.5-9% are already up 20% or more in last 3 months. Then we have EVERYTHING else up double digits up to over %40 (Health Care, guess because we all will be puking over this bs), Information, Consumer Staples, Industrials, Financials, Materials, Consumer Discretionary all up double digit.
For no reason that's good for us anyway.
All that liquidity that they are putting out are for profiting when they take back. Most of it just moving from one pocket to the other and pretty soon, they will move it back to the first pocket with a little extra.
Made some of my gains on just plain junk, but it's all junk now. I like to make money like everyone else, but this is just crazy. Oh well, it is what it is.
My rant for the day.
Yea, ones in power wanting more power/money or to continue using whatever system is in place for their pers ATM. They use people under their power with war, killing doesn't matter how many or how they do it, whether it be bombs or a virus, still destroying masses of lives.
These struggles are at the very top group and within their group. Putin ruthlessly with Ukraine, afraid of losing some of his power/money, takes over Ukraine's assets/money/power. (like he doesn't have enough, more than his group could ever use sensibly).
In the US, ones who are afraid that they are losing some of their power/money (even though they have plenty) create a War, a Civil War, killing 100s of thousand US citizens needlessly, and destroying many more. All so they can be top dog in this system that controls everything.
Putin doesn't care about his people, only his group, uses his people to kill other people for his groups gain.
Neither does the aggression in the US care about the people (or their "rights"), they just use people to kill and destroy others for their personal gain. This is in order to let others do all the work, and they get all the spoils (power/money).
And it all works, Putin gets Ukraine, and the ones in the US take from the ones who have. Shoving it up you know what and making us like it. And all the ones who don't see or believe it, are exactly like Mannarino described.
He himself has a certain amount of bs for his own gain. We all play the same cards, the ones they deal us, it is how our system is set up, so I got no gripe with him.
I definitely have a gripe with some so called leaders and the criminals, and criminal acts they use to perpetrate their internal struggles/greed. Using greater and greater destruction to justify their means.
One has got to realize that this more and more intensity and manipulation will implode and some point. The more delay in the inevitable can only worsen the results. One can only build a house of cards so high before it crumbles.
Meanwhile, many will pay, for it's got to be taken from somewhere.
Did a little bit there, but sort of turning into a dying fish out of water. Maybe a couple of more little ones before close. Not sure if we'll get anything big now. "Power Hour"? LOL