Tag Archive: Corruption

Is the West repeating India’s mistakes?

2020-07-26

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2020-07-26

Following the publication of our last conversation with Jayant Bhandari, I received a lot of interesting feedback and remarks. The common denominator of all those comments was the astonishment of many Western readers at the real conditions and dynamics on the ground in India.

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“Gnomes Of Zurich” In Panic As Saudi Corruption Crackdown Sparks Flood Of Money Laundering Inquiries

2017-12-08

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2017-12-08

Zurich
There are two divergent views on the crackdown on corruption by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), which led to the arrest and detention of 200 princes, ministers and former ministers. On one hand, it was a masterstroke which will earn political capital with the Saudi people and catalyse an Arab Spring in which MBS is a modernizing reformer who will liberalise Islam.

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Saudi Billionaires Scramble To Move Cash Offshore, Escape Asset Freeze

2017-11-16

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2017-11-16

Saudi Crackdown
Over the weekend, Saudi King Salman shocked the world by abruptly announcing the arrests of 11 senior princes and some 38 ministers, including Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the world’s sixty-first richest man and the largest shareholder in Citi, News Corp. and Twitter.

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When Health Insurance Works: A Look Inside Switzerland’s Healthcare System

2017-11-02

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2017-11-02

The enigmatic independence of Switzerland is perhaps best demonstrated in the fact that its healthcare system manages to satisfy both free marketers and the statist-socialists in the country. It is a giant social safety net woven by individual responsibility and self-made wealth. Health insurance is almost entirely consumer-based, though there are strict cantonal regulations and some governing federal laws.

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One-Tenth Of Global GDP Is Now Held In Offshore Tax Havens

2017-09-19

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2017-09-19

Mossack Fonseca
Accurately measuring the scope of global wealth inequality is a notoriously difficult undertaking – a fact that was brought to light last year when the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published the Panama Papers, exposing clients of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

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Martin Armstrong: “EU in Disintegration Mode”

2017-02-11

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2017-02-11

Net migration into Germany, 2006 - 2015
Famous market forecaster Martin Armstrong wrote a recent article describing the current situation in Europe. Similar to our article, “Trouble Brewing in the EU”, the Armstrong's piece discusses growing discontent and fractures in the E.U. Martin Armstrong observes that,

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Europe Proposes “Restrictions On Payments In Cash”

2017-01-27

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2017-01-27

European commission
Having discontinued its production of EUR500 banknotes, it appears Europe is charging towards the utopian dream of a cashless society. Just days after Davos' elites discussed why the world needs to "get rid of currency," the European Commission has introduced a proposal enforcing "restrictions on payments in cash.

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The War On Cash Is Happening Faster Than We Could Have Imagined

2016-12-03

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2016-12-03

It’s happening faster than we could have ever imagined. Every time we turn around, it seems, there’s another major assault in the War on Cash. India is the most notable recent example– the embarrassing debacle a few weeks ago in which the government, overnight, “demonetized” its two largest denominations of cash, leaving an entire nation in chaos.

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Former Treasury Secretary Summers Calls For End Of Fed Independence

2016-11-06

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2016-11-06

Larry Summers
At an event in Davos, Switzerland earlier today, Former U.S. Treasury Secretary, Larry Summers, argued that Central Bank independence from national governments should be scrapped in favor of a coordinated effort between politicians, central bankers and treasury to engineer inflation. Seems reasonable, right?...what could possibly go wrong?

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Secret Swiss Military Bunkers Filled With Gold: Alternatives To Bank Deposits

2016-10-03

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2016-10-03

For decades, Switzerland had a reputation for bank secrecy that made it the most sought after tax haven for billionaires from around the globe. But, after more than 80 years of secrecy, a series of bilateral agreements with countries around the world, including America’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), have forced the private-banking industry in Switzerland to embrace an entirely new era of transparency that requires a full exchange of...

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Rogoff Warns “Cash Is Not Forever, It’s A Curse”

2016-09-14

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2016-09-14

Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, postulates to get rid of cash. In his opinion, killing big bills would hamper organized crime and make negative interest more effective. Kenneth Rogoff makes a provocative proposal. One of the most influential economists on the planet, he wants to phase out cash.

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US To Seize $1 Billion In Embezzled Malaysian Assets Which Goldman Sachs Helped Buy

2016-07-21

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2016-07-21

The last time we wrote about the long-running saga of the scandalous collapse and constant corruption at the Malaysian state wealth fund, 1MDB, which also happened to be an unconfirmed slush fund for president Najib, was a month ago when we learned that the NY bank regulator was looking into fundraising by the fund's favorite bank, Goldman Sachs.

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Panama Tax Haven Scandal: The Bigger Picture

The “Panama Papers” tax haven leak is big … After all, the Prime Minister of Iceland resigned over the leak, and investigations are taking place worldwide over the leak. But the Panama Papers reporting mainly focuses on friends of Russia’s Putin, Ass...

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The British Referendum And The Long Arm Of The Lawless

2016-06-23

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2016-06-23

Kings have long arms, many ears, and many eyes.” So read an English proverb dated back to the year of our Lord 1539. And thus was born an idiom that today translates to the very familiar Long Arm of the Law. It stands to reason that such a warning was born of feudal times when omnipotent and seemingly omnipresent monarchs personified the law.

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Global Peace Index: Only 10 countries not at war (among them Switzerland)

2016-06-09

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2016-06-09

The world is becoming a more dangerous place and there are now just 10 countries which can be considered completely free from conflict, according to authors of the 10th annual Global Peace Index, among them Switzerland.

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Malaysia CDS Spike After Abu Dhabi Puts Scandal-Ridden 1MDB In Default, Funds hidden in Switzerland

2016-04-19

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2016-04-19

Over the better part of the past year, we’ve documented the curious case of 1MDB, Malaysia’s government investment fund founded in 2009. It’s a long and exceptionally convoluted story that doesn’t exactly lend itself to a concise summary but suffice...

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“Time To Panic”? Nigeria Begs World Bank For Massive Loan As Dollar Reserves Dry Up

2016-01-31

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2016-01-31

Having urged "don't panic" just 4 short months ago, it appears Nigeria just did just that as the global dollar short squeeze forces the eight-month-old government of President Muhammadu Buhari to beg The World Bank and African Development Bank for $3...

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