India Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Switzerland on trail of hidden funds

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Switzerland to discuss science, business and the moot question of funds alleged to be hidden in Swiss banks, away from Indian tax authorities. The Swiss deny the claim.

Deutsche Welle, 6 June 2016

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his whirlwind trip to Switzerland early on Monday by declaring his intentions to meet with prominent business leaders, and scientists at the CERN European research organization, which operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world.

Modi also met Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann in Geneva (photo).

"In Geneva, I will meet prominent businesspersons. Our agenda will be to expand economic and investment ties. I will meet Indian scientists working at CERN. India takes pride in their contribution to exploring new frontiers of science in the service of humanity," he said.

Hidden assets

According to Indian news agency PTI, Modi was to press the issue of so-called "black money," or funds stashed by Indian nationals in Switzerland - either because the funds came from illicit profits or were being hidden from tax authorities.

Although some reports, including one from India's Central Bureau of Investigation, indicated $500 billion (440 million euros) was hidden in Swiss banks, authorities in the Alpine confederation have consistently denied this.

A closer engagement with the heart of Europe. President and PM lead delegation level talks #IndiaSwitzerland pic.twitter.com/vtvVWXbP8l

— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) June 6, 2016

Nuclear Suppliers Group

Modi was also expected to ask for Switzerland's support for India's bid to join Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 48-member organization aimed at reducing the threat of nuclear war.

Indian membership has been backed the UK, the US and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. However, some countries have voiced opposition to non-signatories of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) joining the group.

Modi has stopped in Switzerland as part of a five-nation tour which has included Afghanistan and Qatar so far.

He is set to leave Geneva for Washington later on Monday.

Singapore kicks out Swiss bank linked to Malaysia's 1MDB

Yahoo – AFP, Elizabeth Law, 24 May 2016

Singapore's central bank has ordered the closure of the local branch of Swiss bank 

BSI, which has been linked to a scandal at Malaysia's troubled state fund 1MDB

(AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

Singapore (AFP) - Singapore's central bank on Tuesday said it was kicking out Switzerland's BSI Bank, which has been linked to a global money-laundering scandal that has embroiled neighbouring Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak.

In the toughest legal action so far in the crisis rocking Malaysian state fund 1MDB, Switzerland also disclosed it had launched criminal proceedings against the parent firm BSI SA for "deficiencies" in its internal organisation.

“BSI Bank is the worst case of control lapses and gross misconduct that we have seen in the Singapore financial sector," Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said in a statement.

MAS said it had asked state prosecutors to investigate six senior executives of BSI Bank for possible criminal offences and fined it Sg$ 13.3 million ($9.6 million) for 41 breaches of Singapore's laws against money laundering.

Among those facing investigation is former chief executive Hans Peter Brunner.

Two Singaporean executives of the bank are already facing criminal proceedings in the city-state, which is Southeast Asia's financial hub and hosts more than 200 banks.

BSI has been operating as a merchant bank in Singapore since November 2005, offering private banking services to wealthy individuals.

The last time Singapore stripped a merchant bank of its status was in 1984, when the local branch of Jardine Fleming was shut down for "serious lapses" in its advisory work.

Najib, who founded 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in 2009, has battled allegations that billions were looted from the investment vehicle in a vast campaign of fraud and embezzlement stretching from the Middle East to the Caymans.

Swiss bank BSI has been linked to a global money-laundering scandal at 

Malaysia's state fund 1MDB (AFP Photo/Roslan Rahman)

Denials

The fund, which ran up more than $11 billion in debt in a series of much-questioned investments, has steadfastly denied money was stolen or that it was in financial trouble.

Najib also faced questions after the Wall Street Journal revealed $681 million in transfers to his personal bank accounts.

But since the scandal erupted last year, Najib has weathered the allegations by curbing scrutiny by authorities, purging officials demanding accountability, and stifling media reporting.

He insists the $681 million was a gift from the Saudi royal family, most of which he returned. A Saudi official in April said that was true, but only after weeks of silence that cast doubt on the claim.

In a series of more recent reports, however, the newspaper said Malaysian investigation documents indicated more than $1 billion in 1MDB-linked money had been funnelled to Najib.

Najib and 1MDB vehemently deny that claim.

Najib has faced calls to resign but has tightened his grip on the ruling party and thwarted domestic investigations. His position is not seen as under imminent threat.

Singapore's MAS said it was "working closely" with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), which has already approved the sale of the BSI parent firm to another Swiss-based bank, EFG International.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland said Tuesday that it had opened criminal proceedings against BSI SA "based on information revealed by the criminal proceedings in the 1MDB case".

In Singapore, former BSI Bank relationship manager Yak Yew Chee is undergoing a criminal investigation for his dealings with a unit of 1MDB. His bank deposits have been frozen.

Separately, former BSI Bank wealth planner Yeo Jiawei, also a Singaporean, faces seven charges including forgery, money laundering, cheating and perverting the course of justice. He is in police custody and scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.

Malaysian PM Najib Razak has been under fire over allegations that billions of dollars

 were stolen from a state firm he founded, and his own admitted acceptance of a

murky $681 million overseas "donation" (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

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United States Seeks to Recover More Than $1 Billion Obtained from Corruption Involving Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund - New

Switzerland opens criminal probe into Malaysian state fund

Swiss prosecutor asks Malaysia to help investigate 1MDB fund irregularities

Malaysia clears PM in scandal, says Saudis provided 'donation'

Why few Americans appear in the Panama Papers

Yahoo –AFP, Jeremy Tordjman, April 8, 2016

Issues of the German daily "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" featuring the "Panama Papers"
 with illustrations by German artist Peter M Hoffmann depicting heads of state
(AFP Photo/Christof Stache)

Washington (AFP) - From Russia to China, and Britain to Iceland, the revelations of the "Panama Papers" have tarnished officials and the wealthy over the implication that they hide riches offshore.

But one group is not there: prominent Americans. US tycoons and politicians are notably absent in the leaked files of the Panama law offices of Mossack Fonseca, which created thousands of shell companies worldwide to hide the identities of their ultimate owners, some of whom may have been evading taxes.

There is Hollywood mogul David Geffen, the Asylum Records and Dreamworks SKG co-founder. But there are no Americans comparable to Iceland's prime minister, or henchmen of the Russian president -- all in the Panama records -- at least in what has been disclosed so far.

"There are a lot of Americans, but they are more like private citizens," said Marina Walker Guevara, deputy director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists which coordinated the investigation and release of the Panama Papers.

However, that hardly means Americans have fully embraced financial transparency, she told AFP.

"It doesn't show that the US is outside of the offshore system; the US is actually a big player."

The Tax Justice Network's Financial Secrecy Index (AFP Photo/Alain

Bommenel, Jean Michel Cornu)

Other options

One possible reason for their small presence in the Panama documents is that US citizens hoping to hide funds and activities offshore were not drawn to Spanish-speaking Panama as a haven, when there are options like the British Virgin islands and the Cayman Islands.

"Americans have so many tax havens to choose from," said Nicholas Shaxson, author of "Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men who Stole the World," a 2011 book on secretive centers for hiding money.

Indeed, Americans do not have to go abroad to hide funds and activities behind anonymous corporations: they can create them at home.

States like Delaware and Wyoming allow the creation of such companies, for just a few hundred dollars, that conceal their ultimate financial beneficiary.

And while US banks are normally required to "know their customers," they can bypass that rule and open accounts for shell companies, ensuring total discretion for someone who wants to move money around quietly.

The US Treasury is moving to stop the practice, which can be used by arms and drug traffickers to launder funds and lands the United States in third in the Tax Justice Network's ranking of the world's least transparent countries, well above Panama.

"We're in the last stages of drafting the final rule," a Treasury official told AFP.

The most popular tax havens (AFP Photo/Laurence Saubadu, Jonathan Jacobsen)

'Very frightened'

But there is another possible reason that Americans are not so visible in the Panama Papers.

Spurred by the need to halt huge, blatant tax evasion by Americans using foreign banks, Washington in recent years has cracked down with lawsuits, arrests and tighter laws that have targeted both the banks offering safe haven and those hiding money in them.

Swiss banks were hit in particular. UBS and Credit Suisse, respectively, had to pay fines of $780 million and $2.6 billion for having helped US citizens hide money.

The result, Shaxson said, is that now "there are a few tax havens around the world that are very frightened of American clients, because they know that the US can hit them."

Nevertheless, the seeming absence of Americans from the Panama Papers has fed conspiracy theories, such as claims the leak of the files was orchestrated by the CIA to destabilize Russia and other countries.

But Walker Guevara said there is still a lot to be examined in the trove of 11.5 million documents that make up the Panama Papers, and there could be more about Americans in there.

"It's a huge trove of documents and maybe there's something hiding there that we haven't found yet. It's a work in progress."

"@USTreasury has taken new action to prevent more corporations from taking advantage of one of the most insidious tax loopholes" —@POTUS

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 5, 2016

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Infantino pledges new era after winning FIFA vote

Yahoo – AFP, Ben Simon and Eric Bernaudeau, 27 February 2016

New FIFA president Gianni Infantino reacts after winning the FIFA presidential 

election during the extraordinary FIFA Congress in Zurich on February 26, 2016 

(AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

Zurich (AFP) - Gianni Infantino won FIFA's presidential election and vowed to lead the scandal-tainted body into a new era as he faced immediate calls to ensure genuine reform.

The 45-year-old UEFA general secretary scored a convincing victory in the battle to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter, whose 18-year reign ended with FIFA mired in unprecedented crisis.

Infantino, a Swiss-Italian, defeated Asian rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa in the second round of the vote of 207 members.

Portrait of Gianni Infantino, elected

new president of FIFA (AFP Photo)

"FIFA has gone through sad times, moments of crisis, but those times are over," he said, asserting that a "new era" had begun for world's football's governing body, dogged by a vast set of corruption scandals.

Blatter, who many hold responsible for the culture of patronage and graft that plagued FIFA, congratulated Infantino on his win.

"With his experience, his capacities, his sense of strategy and diplomacy, he has all the qualities to continue my work," Blatter said in a statement.

Second round win

Infantino got 115 votes in the election's second round while Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman, from Bahrain, got 88. They were just three votes apart in the first round.

Five candidates started the day in contention.

Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan and former FIFA official Jerome Champagne saw their support fizzle after the first round, while South African tycoon Tokyo Sexwale withdrew before polling opened.

Infantino said he would have no trouble uniting world football after an election which exposed divides between Europe, Infantino's power base, and voters in Asia and Africa.

"Today it was an election but not a war," the new FIFA supremo told reporters. "In an election you win or lose and then life goes on."

Sheikh Salman said he was looking forward to working with his campaign rival, and called for "unity" while stressing that FIFA needed to be more "inclusive and reflect the diversity of world football".

Infantino's election was hailed by world figures such as Russia's President Vladimir Putin and federation chiefs.

Putin, whose country will host the 2018 World Cup, said Infantino comes into the post with "high authority".

Pressure to change

The multilingual lawyer takes over leadership of the world's top sport with its reputation at an all-time low.

A monitor behind delegates displays the names of the FIFA presidential candidates

 during the extraordinary FIFA Congress in Zurich on February 26, 2016 (AFP 

Photo/Olivier Morin)

Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini have been banned from football for six years, US prosecutors have charged 39 people over more than $200 million in football business bribes and Swiss authorities are investigating FIFA's management and the awarding of hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Infantino, who only entered the contest after Platini was ruled out, will also face immediate financial problems.

Acting secretary-general Markus Kattner said "general uncertainty" caused by the crisis meant FIFA was $550 million (500 million euros) behind in its $5 billion budget target for 2015-2018.

The shortfall could complicate Infantino's ability to deliver on a campaign pledge of more than doubling the amount given back to national associations to over $1.2 billion in total every four years.

Hours before he was elected, FIFA members approved a reform package that aims to limit the powers of the new president and to end the corruption that prevailed under Blatter.

The president will become more like a corporate chairman of the board, providing strategic guidance but with less management authority.

FIFA's member of Algeria (L) votes during the FIFA electoral congress on 

February 26, 2016 in Zurich (AFP Photo/Olivier Morin)

FIFA's executive committee, which had become an epicentre of graft allegations, has been rebranded as a FIFA council. It will operate like a corporate board of directors.

Measures such as declaring the salary of the new president to improve financial transparency were also included.

But sponsors gave a cool reaction to the measures.

"We urge FIFA's new leadership to prioritise their implementation," major backer Visa said of the reforms.

"As we have said before, we believe it is in the best interests of FIFA, the fans, sponsors and everyone involved, that there is long-term independent oversight of the reforms."

Atlanta-based FIFA backers Coca-Cola said in a statement that deeds, not words, regarding accountability will be the critical factor in judging future support of Infantino's FIFA.

"Under Mr Infantino's leadership, FIFA must regenerate itself," it said.

End of an era?

FIFA is battling to recover its reputation 

after a string of corruption allegations that

 also resulted in former chief Sepp Blatter

being banned from football for six years 

(AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

FIFA still has doubters and considerable judicial troubles ahead, particularly from the US investigation with trials that could start this year.

Blatter, 79, the big absentee at the congress, suffered a spectacular fall over the last nine months.

He has since been banned from football for six years for ethics breaches and could face criminal charges.

Infantino also faced questions over his UEFA ties to Platini, but offered thanks for the French football legend's years of support.

He also pledged to work "tirelessly" to drag the organisation out of one of the darkest period's in its 112-year history.

"You will be proud of FIFA," he said. "You will be proud of what FIFA will do for football."

#UPDATE Gianni Infantino wins FIFA presidency https://t.co/0vSN84hsD8 #FIFAelection pic.twitter.com/GVHH0sn9QK

— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 26, 2016

Related Article:

FIFA scandal engulfs Blatter and Platini

FIFA President Sepp Blatter (L) shakes hands with UEFA president Michel

Platini after being re-elected following a vote in Zurich on May 29, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Michael Buholzer)

Swiss prosecutor asks Malaysia to help investigate 1MDB fund irregularities

Switzerland's prosecutor has formally asked Malaysia for help with an investigation into the possible misappropriation of $4 billion by state-owned fund 1MDB. Malaysia's PM has been cleared of corruption in Kuala Lumpur.

Deutsche Welle, 30 January 2016

Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber's office has formally asked Malaysia for help with an investigation into possible violations by the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). It had already "revealed serious indications that funds have been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies," Lauber's office said in a statement.

The charges relate to alleged bribery by foreign officials, misconduct in public office, money laundering and criminal management totaling $4 billion (3.6 billion euros).

"So far, four cases involving allegations of criminal conduct covering the period from 2009 to 2013 have come to light," the statement said, adding that each case involved "a systematic course of action carried out by means of complex financial structures."

Malaysia PM's Saudi gift

Malaysia's attorney general cleared 1MDB's advisory board chairman, Prime Minister Najib Razak (photo), of any criminal offence or corruption last week, saying $681 million deposited into his personal bank account was a gift from Saudi Arabia's royal family.

Some of the funds had been transferred to Swiss accounts held by former Malaysian public officials and current and former public officials from the United Arab Emirates, according to the prosecutor's office.

The Swiss office opened criminal proceedings last August against two former 1MDB officials and "persons unknown." According to the Reuters news agency, when Lauber discussed the case with his Malaysian counterpart in September, the Malaysian prosecutor strongly urged him to drop his investigation.

1MDB debt

1MDB has a $11 billion debt, and there have been allegations of financial mismanagement. The Swiss prosecutors said the funds "would have been earmarked for investment in economic and social development projects in Malaysia."

1MDB is also being investigated by law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong and the United States.

jm/sms (AFP, Reuters)

Related Article:

Malaysia clears PM in scandal, says Saudis provided 'donation'

Malaysia clears PM in scandal, says Saudis provided 'donation'

Yahoo – AFP, Dan Martin, January 26, 2016

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (front) smiles to photographers after
attending a parliament session in Kuala Lumpur, on January 26, 2016 (AFP
Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

The Saudi royal family was the source of a $681 million "donation" that has engulfed Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in scandal, his attorney-general said on Tuesday, clearing the premier of graft allegations.

Mohamed Apandi Ali said a review of evidence compiled by the country's anti-graft agency showed that the money received in 2013 was a "personal donation from the Saudi royal family," giving no further information on the source.

He said $620 million was returned to the Saudis a few months later but did not say why.

Najib, 62, has for months denied accusations that the huge payments into his own bank accounts -- just before a hotly contested 2013 general election -- were syphoned from a now-struggling state-owned company he launched.

Until now, however, the precise origin of the funds has not been specified, other than vague claims by Najib's government that it came from unnamed Middle Eastern donors.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has for months fended off accusations

 that a huge payment made into his personal bank accounts in 2013 was syphoned

off from a state-owned company he had launched (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

The money's purpose has never been revealed.

"No criminal offence has been committed by (the prime minster)", Apandi, who was installed by Najib shortly after the scandal broke last year, said in a statement.

He said he would instruct authorities to close this and related cases.

The fund transfers were revealed last July just as Najib was battling allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars were missing from deals involving the state-owned company, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Najib said the attorney-general's finding "confirmed what I have maintained all along, that no crime was committed".

"This issue has been an unnecessary distraction for the country," he said in a statement, adding it was time for Malaysia to "unite and move on".

'Dark era'

But opposition figures swiftly denounced Tuesday's announcement, calling it part of a broader cover-up.

Malaysian PM Najib Razak (left) meets Saudi Interior Minister Mohammad

bin Naif in Jeddah, on June 7, 2015 (AFP Photo)

"This will cause people to ask whether the AG carried out his duty professionally, freely and fairly," opposition leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told reporters, according to The Malaysian Insider news site.

Apandi -- who has ties to Najib's ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) -- came to office after Najib sacked the previous attorney general, who was believed to be aggressively investigating the matter.

"(Apandi) has to give an explanation to Malaysians. The AG has to do a lot of convincing," Wan Azizah said.

The "donation" alibi is widely dismissed by Malaysians, and even critics within the ruling party have demanded an independent probe and accused Najib of manipulating investigations.

Najib entered office in 2009 as a self-styled reformer but the scandal has severely battered his image, fuelling speculation that Malaysia's nearly six-decade-old ruling coalition could finally lose power in elections due by 2018.

Voters had already been increasingly rejecting the UMNO-dominated coalition in recent elections over recurring graft scandals, divisive racial politics and accusations of rights abuses.

The opposition and rights groups accuse Najib of responding with an escalating crackdown that has seen dozens of government opponents arrested on various charges and the introduction of tough new security laws.

In a report on the crackdown released Tuesday, Amnesty International said Malaysia "is spiralling into a dark era of repression".

Najib Razak (centre) inspects a guard of honour at the ruling United Malays

 National Organisation party's annual congress in Kuala Lumpur, on December 10,

2015 (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

Anti-graft campaign group Transparency International said two questions remained unanswered: "Where did it (the money) go and why was this personal donation made?"

Samantha Grant, the group's Southeast Asia coordinator, told AFP many critics saw the sacking of the former AG "as an abuse of power and an attempt by the Prime Minister to reinstate someone who was more sympathetic to his cause".

Najib still faces a potential threat from foreign investigations.

US authorities are reportedly looking into 1MDB-related overseas fund flows, while Swiss, British, Singaporean and Hong Kong authorities have acknowledged scrutinising the affair.

Early last year a New York Times investigative report detailed multi-million-dollar purchases of luxury US real estate by a close Najib family associate and alleged purchases of millions of dollars in jewellery for Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Najib has responded to the 1MDB scandal by purging powerful critics within UMNO. He retains a solid grip on the party and won its renewed endorsement at a party congress in December.

Related Article:

Swiss prosecutor asks Malaysia to help investigate 1MDB fund irregularities - New

Switzerland opens criminal probe into Malaysian state fund

Swiss state prosecutors have begun criminal proceedings against executives from Malaysia's embattled 1MDB development fund, on top of freezing its assets. The organization has however denied having its resources frozen.

Deutsche Welle, 3 Sep 2015

Despite denials from Malaysian authorities, Switzerland confirmed on Thursday that it had frozen tens of millions of dollars in assets from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the country's troubled state investment fund. According to the Swiss state prosecutor, a criminal probe was also opened against two executives working for 1MDB.

"The Office of The Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has frozen assets amounting several tens of millions of US-dollars on Swiss bank accounts," spokeswoman Anna Wegelin told French news agency AFP. She added that the criminal proceedings now underway involved money laundering and "suspected misconduct in public office."

The move follows months of allegations that huge sums of money had disappeared during deals with 1 MDB and increasing anger at Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who launched the fund in 2009.

The fund, however, said it knew nothing about the Swiss claims, despite insistence from Bern that they had been in contact with Kuala Lumpur: "As far as 1MDB is aware, none of the company's bank accounts have been frozen."

The 1MDB statement continued, however, that it is in the process of developing a better understanding of the ongoing investigations in Switzerland so the company can cooperate to its fullest extent."

Prime Minister Razak has unequivocally denied any wrongdoing, even as tens of thousands of protestors have taken to the streets of Kuala Lumpur and other Malaysian cities in the past week, including former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, calling on their leader to come clean about 1MDB's activities.

The fund has been in the international spotlight since a July "Wall Street Journal" report implied that 2.6 billion ringgit (613 million dollars) discovered in Razak's bank accounts had come from the heavily indebted organization.

es/kms (AFP, dpa)

Related Article:

Swiss freeze millions in Malaysian PM corruption scandal

Swiss freeze millions in Malaysian PM corruption scandal

Swiss authorities have frozen millions of dollars linked to a troubled Malaysian state investment fund. The seizure is believed to be connected to huge cash withdrawals to Prime Minister Najib Razak's personal accounts.

Deutsche Welle, 2 Sep 2015

The office of the Swiss Attorney General announced the seizure on Wednesday, amid a probe into several people linked to the heavily-indebted 1Malaysia Development Fund (1MDB), including Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Swiss authorities said the accounts, which contained millions of dollars, were frozen amid suspicions about corruption and money laundering.

Malaysian leader Najib has been under growing pressure to resign since "The Wall Street Journal" revealed in early July that Malaysian investigators had found nearly $700 million (620 million euros) in mysterious deposits in his personal bank accounts.

The money had been withdrawn from 1MDB's bank accounts. The fund was set up by Najib in 2009 to boost Malaysia's economic prospects.

It was unclear whether the accounts frozen in Switzerland were directly linked to funds received by the Malaysian leader.

Najib denies any wrongdoing, describing criticism of his leadership as a "political conspiracy." Officials maintain the cash came from "political donations" from Middle Eastern countries.

Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamed has joined the call for Najib to step down.

Tens of thousands of people joined an
 anti-government protest in Kuala
Lumpur over the weekend

The 90-year-old, who himself ruled Malaysia for 22 years, spoke at huge rallies last weekend, accusing Najib of bribing politicians in the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO), to secure their support.

Huge protests over the weekend, led by Berish, a coalition of Malaysian NGOs and activist groups, were declared illegal by police and several organizers have been brought in for questioning.

On Wednesday, the German-based Transparency International said Malaysia's fight against corruption wouldn't be credible until the truth about Najib's sudden personal windfall was revealed.

mm/msh (AFP, AP)

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ABN Amro fires six at Dubai office for irregularities

DutchNews.nl, March 11, 2015

Dutch state-owned bank ABN Amro fired six employees at its Dubai private banking desk after an internal probe showed they were involved in serious irregularities, the Financieele Dagblad says on Wednesday. 

The bankers had failed to comply with internal codes of conduct by enabling clients to use their personal accounts for illicit business transactions. The FD said this enabled the clients to use private banking accounts to carry out transactions which should have fallen under a much stricter compliance regime.

‘We offer private banking, and feel that using our services this way is improper,’ a spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal. ‘We maintain a high standard world-wide for client acceptance.’ 

ABN Amro has a workforce of around 100 in Dubai. The office trades in commodities such as oil and in diamonds as well as offering private banking services to wealthy clients. 

The FD says the bank kept the irregularities and the redundancies quiet and described the sudden departure of the responsible chief executive officer as ‘retirement’.

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Swiss account secret of HSBC chief Stuart Gulliver revealed

Stuart Gulliver in Hong Kong in 2012: leaked files show that the
HSBC chief executive was a client of the bank’s Swiss subsidiary at
the centre of the scandal. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy,Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) -(Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”