I’m not sure how many grains of salt this deserves to be taken with. Perhaps a whole shaker full. Or perhaps it’s the dead-solid truth. Judge for yourself. Marc Slavo tends to be a bit conspiratorial for my taste and the bona fides of the letter writer he quotes are unverifiable.
Whatever else, it’s fascinating that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission tossed this public comment down the memory hole yesterday almost as soon as it was posted. The comment’s author claims to be a whistleblower writing from inside JPMorgan Chase. And he or she confirms (among other things) the widespread suspicion that the silver market is being wildly manipulated to JPMorgan’s benefit.
The Internet, bless its many-pointed little head, rescued the comment from the obscurity the CFTC tried to consign it to and D. sent me the link.
Again, caveat lector (And thanks to David for giving proper form to the “Lat-ish” I previously entered.) Just thought it was worth a post.
Caveat lector…hah. Used to be the name of my blog, until I remembered I was writing software & the blog was supposed to be a sideline.
Ahhhh. David. Thank you. I thought maybe Samuel Adams would jump in with the right answer, but you beat him to it. I was “scribbling” so quickly when I blogged that that I didn’t even think about looking it up. But “caveat lector” — so elegant and so right.
Yeah … know how that goes with blogs getting away from you.
I can not put my finger on the the exact language in this missive that clues me to its authenticity BUT it’s poorly written tone does ring true to me as something an ‘insider’ would write
Hm. Thanks, Jake. With your background, Mr. Advisor (http://theadvisornovel.blogspot.com/2011/05/chapter-one.html), you probably know whereof you speak.
My writer-sense also feels that the language is authentic. I doubt its authenticity mainly because of a) the Slavo connection and b) the way it so conveniently confirms what conspiracy theorists have been saying about JPMorgan and the silver market for many months now.
I don’t doubt that JPMorgan is a first-class market manipulator. And I don’t doubt that the silver market is finagled. I just don’t think that the story, when it comes out, will be so spot on with what the theories have said.
I hope we get plenty of follow-up to this.
I read the open letter from the “insider” and my take on it is this person does not and has never worked in a bank. I have a pretty good take on what its like working for a bank, as I have just completed my 11th year of working in banking. I am not a big fan of banks and the way they operate, for me its simply a way to make a living. I cannot and will not try to defend banks, they do all kinds of bad stuff, but this insider’s tale is fiction.
The thing you have to keep in mind is how much regulation and training every poor bank worker from the CEO down to the lowliest teller have to go through every year. Off the top of my head over the past year: Bus. Continuity Planning, Servicemember Relief Act, Risk Framework, Fair Lending Requirements, Information Protection and Privacy, Anti-bribery/Anti-corruption, Anti-money laundering, Code of Ethics training.
Basically, you are doing your own little job that has nothing to do with any of these thing then you get an email saying you need to do your Code of Ethics training in the next month. Then take and on-line evaluation and score 80% or better. Next year it starts over, and you do it all again.
JPM is no different than my bank, and that Code of Ethics training is standard in the industry. If this “insider” wanted to come clean on a violation like that all banks have a standard 3rd party Ethics Compliance Hotline (all major banks have them). He could phone in his story, there is no risk of “losing his job”, and it would be investigated. Anything reported has to be investigated and there is nothing JPM can do about it. If it was true they would go to the regulators. Heck, he’d probably part of the settlement. Any insider would know this.
I know there are those who will say “sure you could report this and not lose your job…..you’d be fired the next day”. Okay, but here’s my take. I would LOVE that! To document a violation as a whistle-blower, then get fired! I’d have a lawyer AND be shopping for a beach house to retire to before the day was over.
Also, if I did not find the way this “insider” decided to report this to be very suspect, the comment “we along with 4 other institutions” just screams fake. Banks and financial institutions do not play well together. One rouge bank maybe, but 4 working together….nah.
GWF
I respectfully disagree.
“If it was true they would go to the regulators. ” I blew a snot bubble on that one!
Kindly name one major regulator prosecution of ANY financial crimes from the current mess in the past four years?
MF Global? Corizine?
Hall passes anyone?
in fact, here is but one example of what happens when one does blow a whistle — absolute ruin
http://www.senseoncents.com/2012/03/how-does-finra-lose-8-hours-of-testimony-wall-streets-kangaroo-court/
GWF, he is not shopping for a beach house!
again, GWF, I am disagreeing with your ideas – but doing so agreeably and respectfully
I have been an investment banker (muni’s), a retail advisor, raised venture capital, inside SWIFT, etc etc, I saw the handwriting in 2003, sold my business in 2004 and now only invest in things I can touch (tangibles)
on this topic read the recent NY Times op-ed “Why I quit Goldman”
Banks (Retail, Commercial, Investment) and the shadow banks (Reinsurance, Hedges, …) are in the process of committing the largest scale theft in the history of man
even if this article was fiction – the real story is more horrific than even I write
the real story is patently evil IMO
Jake,
I had hoped to avoid conflict by starting, “I am not a big fan of banks and the way they operate…. I cannot and will not try to defend banks”
The entire world banking and capital market system is nothing but a huge house of cards. I prepare for the inevitable fall, and the backlash that ensues.
My comment was directed only at the “insider’s” open letter. It looks like a fake to me and I stand by that 100%.
As for the whistle-blower’s getting paid, here’s a perfect example of folks that could certainly look for beach property:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-16/bank-whistle-blower-wins-18-million-payday-in-foreclosure-deal.html
I read and re-read the article you linked. I honestly don’t understand. Losing hours of transcript sounds suspect, but they decided against him for some reason. His claim “accused the firm of taking hidden fees from its retirement-account customers”. Huh? If they are “hidden”, how do I take them? Heck, as an investment banker, you know the fees generated on these accounts. Why would any firm need to hide them? The “out in the open” fees are more than enough to be considered highway robbery. Not sure about that case. It is quite different than a group of 5 banks banding together to short silver and drive the world prices down.
If you want to discuss prosecution of financial firms, I am sure we will be in 100% agreement. Corizine is a crook and an thief (of if I say politician does that cover both those) and should be in jail. Financial crimes are at historic highs, yet prosecutions are at ten year lows? That is just wrong.
The only thing I was trying to comment on was my own personal opinion of the open letter..