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In DC, Bailout Bill Pushed Beyond US,
to HSBC, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Nomura, RBS - & Sovereign Wealth Funds?
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press in DC: News Analysis
WASHINGTON DC,
September 21 -- As the fast track proceeds
toward rubber-stamp approval of the bail-out proposal by Henry Paulson
and Ben
Bernanke, changes are being made, and they are not pro-consumer.
Rather,
non-U.S. institutions involved in subprime lending, such as HSBC, Deutsche
Bank, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Credit Suisse, Nomura and
even Sovereign Wealth Funds have gotten themselves included in the
bailout. Their access can be documented. Paulson's initial proposal as
issued
on September 20 was
"The Secretary is
authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase,
on such
terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related
assets
from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United
States."
This
phrase, headquarters in the U.S., caused agita. Lobbying was done and
concession were made.
Paulson and Bernanke: let's thrown some billions to HSBC and
Barclays
Later on
September, Paulson's Treasury Department issued
a clarifying fact sheet:
"To
qualify for the program,
assets must have been originated or issued on or before September 17,
2008.
Participating financial institutions must have significant operations
in the
U.S., unless the Secretary makes a determination, in consultation with
the Chairman
of the Federal Reserve, that broader eligibility is necessary to
effectively
stabilize financial markets."
The switch
no longer requires a U.S. headquarters, only "significant operations"
in the country. Surely HSBC, based in London and Hong Kong, considers
its
Chicago-based subprime lender significant. So too Deutsche Bank's two
subprime
lenders.
Also
significant, in terms of supposed concern about moral hazard, is the
cut-off
date of September 17. Weren't people on notice at least since February
2008
about the problems in the subprime market? Why should investments made
after
that still be in line for a Federal bail-out? In Washington, the sleaze
is
moving faster.
Watch this site, and this debate, mostly
about UN but also Sarah Palin.
* * *
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reports are
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Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
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