Dear Depositor:
We don’t want to cause you unnecessary stress or worry, but it might be prudent to pay attention to a series of unusual news reports recently emanating from the banking world. Viewed independently, each event might be rather insignificant.
However, when examined collectively, these events paint a very dire warning for the safety of bank deposits everywhere. Naturally, most all of these have received little to no coverage by the mainstream media. That is to be expected.
The MSM’s job one is to always obfuscate any potentially dangerous news that has a chance of frightening investors or depositors. After all, the goal of the world banking cartel/equities Ponzi scheme is to keep depositors and investors relaxed and passive in their comfort zones until the complete collapse of their positions is unavoidable.
Here is a timeline of these very disturbing banking events that have occurred since last fall:
1 – October 3, 2013: US banks fearing default stock up on cash. The Financial Times reported today that two of the country’s biggest banks are putting into place a “play book” as preparation for a possible banking panic. A senior banking executive reported that his bank has delivered 20 – 30% more cash than usual in cash panicked customers try to withdraw cash in mass.
2 – October 12, 2013: Food stamp card malfunction causes riots at Walmart stores in Louisiana. The technical problem that eliminated spending limits on food stamp debit cards sets off a bizarre shopping frenzy at Walmart stores in Louisiana.
3 – November 2 – 8, 2013: A reputed computer glitch wipes out ATMs and online banking on a massive scale. Major shutdowns of online banking occurred in Alabama, Arizona, and California and affected such banks as Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America, Compass, Chase Fairwinds Credit Union, American Express, and others. Tellers reportedly had a hard time with even simple transactions such as check cashing and checking balances. Rumors circulated on the internet that the banks are using this temporary shutdown as a beta test for a future full bank “holiday” closure.
4 – November 17, 2013: JP Morgan Chase halts international wire transfers from the US for many small businesses. Also, Chase alerted its small business customers that the total cash activity (the combined total of cash deposits and withdrawals made at Chase branches and ATMs, including money orders and cashier’s checks) is hereby limited to a total of $50,000 per business customer per billing cycle.
5 – January 16, 2014: Reports from Hong Kong indicate another HSBC scandal: an $80B capitalization shortfall. Forensic Asia, a Hong Kong based research firm, issued a “sell recommendation” on HSBC because of “questionable assets” on its balance sheet. The London Telegraph reported Forensic Asia’s warning that HSBC “had between $63.6B and $92.3B of ‘questionable assets’ on its balance sheet, ranging from loan loss reserves and accrued interest to deferred taxes.”
6 – January 24, 2014: HSBC imposes restrictions on cash withdrawals in Britain. Reports circulated that British HSBC customers have been suddenly refused cash withdrawals as low as 3,000 pounds. HSBC admitted that it did not inform its customers of the abrupt policy change. HSBC officers putatively suggested that it is “only for the protection of its customers.”
7 China’s Banking Problems are Escalating Fast. Beijing based ICBC, the world’s largest bank by assets, announced it will not take full responsibility for a trust investment equivalent to US $500 million that may go bust. ICBC, one of China’s “Big Four” banks, may be linked to a loan default very similar to the type that precipitated the Lehman Brothers crisis in 2007.
In fact, this may be only the tip of the iceberg that has an outside chance of bringing down the entire Chinese banking world. This ICBC “trust investment” is actually one of a vast array of loans that comprises China’s secret shadow banking system. It is estimated that China’s total shadow banking debt is now in excess of $4.7 trillion – a staggering figure for any market, let alone an unregulated one. It is believed that much of this secret lending system is fraught with high interest, high risk loans that contain a strong possibility of default. Any major failure in this market can only have catastrophic outcomes, for not only markets in China, but for all types of markets worldwide.
8 – January 28, 2014: One of Russia’s top two hundred lenders, “My Bank,” introduces a one week complete ban on cash withdrawals. The reputed reason is customers wishing to exit the declining ruble in exchange for other currencies.
9 – February 17, 2014: Chase imposes imposes new capital controls on cash deposits. Chase alerted customers that they must now present a valid ID when making any cash deposit and that the bank will now only accept cash deposits in the customer’s own account. As of February 1, 2014, Chase customers are asked for ID for cash deposits for their account while cash deposits for another customer’s account will be completely banned after March 3, 2014.
Some analysts speculated that such measures are a sign that banks are getting ready for economic turmoil and possible bank runs.
10 – February 20, 2014: Royal Bank of Scotland group announces lay-offs of 30,000 employees in coming months. The Financial Times reported that Britain’s largest state owned lender will shrink its work force by 30,000 and also pull out of “dozens of the 38 countries” in which it does business. As initially reported in Bloomberg (but later revised for online posting), this dramatic pull-back by RBS (which is 80% government owned), was strongly encouraged by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who undoubtedly has become concerned by the bank’s overextension in non-British markets. (A special thanks to David Lenihan of Wavesync Research LLC, for the tip on this story)
