Wednesday, April 28, 2010

US Congress - Goldman Sachs

Mr. Tan Kin Lian,

There is another more interesting news on the Goldman investigation. The e-mail record of Fabrice Tourre is quite telling. He is the 31-year old nicknamed "Fabulous Fab" who brokered the deal. You may read the link (http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/26/news/companies/Tourre_Goldman/index.htm)

Quote
In an even more blunt description, Tourre calls the CDOs he produced "intellectual masturbation" and likens himself to Dr. Frankenstein. "When I think that I had some input into the creation of this product (which by the way is a product of pure intellectual masturbation, the type of thing which you invent telling yourself: 'well, what if we created a 'thing', which has no purpose, which is absolutely conceptual and highly theoretical and which nobody knows how to price?") it sickens the heart to see it shot down in mid-flight...It's a little like Frankenstein turning against his own inventor ;)"
Unquote
From CASHEW NUT

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Goldman Armed Salespeople to Dump Bonds, E-mails Show (Update1).

The artcicle below from bloomberg shows that to protect themselves banks did not mind to harm their treasured customer.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoT.IqoUZk14&pos=3

GoldmanSacked said...

WSJ: Trader's Testimony Raises Legal Issues
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703832204575210610576774470.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEADNewsCollection

Goldman's Senate Hearing Strategy Seems To Hinge On Wasting Time
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/delay-delay-delay-goldmans-senate-hearing-strategy-seems-to-hinge-on-wasting-time.php?ref=fpblg

Jobless still said...

He will be famous.. invited to give talks, seminars and write a book.

There is a future for him.. he will still be able to get income, although he may not be employed by major financial bodies.

Me?.. honest, law abiding, study, be loyal to your employer, be humble to your peers, sign up for spurs.. what did I get?.. no fame, no book deal, no income.

Greed is good after all.

Better be con-man.. the notoriety pays an income.

Anonymous said...

Still not a single word from our MAS.

Anonymous said...

How did the creators of Jubilee, Pinnacle and Minibond sold to our local Professional Advisors who advice Town Council?

They may just sell the same way as Tourre i.e hiding the true risk of the products.

MAS went through the prospectus/pricing statements and corrected some grammar and punctuation challenges and approve it for public consumption.

DBS, learnt fast and created HN5 with MAS blessing which lead to 1,400 investors bleeding.

So you have a group of Banksters created MAS approved product and suck up the life savings of retirees and Singaporeans, MPs and Town Councils included.

As the local scene comes to a close, MAS MD Heng get a pat on his back for a job well done and rewarded with a promotion. MAS Chairman and Deputy Chairman felt that punishing the local FIs with ban of sale of already dead structure product is very severe as it tarnish FIs reputation.

One wonder why we pay them $2.5 to $3.2 millions a year with taxpayer money when Hong Kong SEC did a better job at a much lower pay.

As for the Americans banksters, well, I think our regulator think they are TOO BIG TOO TOUCH and at the same time cannot offend brother DBS.

Lastly, DBS like Goldman Sachs felt they did nothing wrong and the best part is that having a good friend like MAS will not of the same kind of investigation on them similar to GS. Always great to have same grandmaster so no worry.

If like that still can get >60% votes at the next election, it is either PAP is real smart or we are real stupid.

If it is the later, why bother to be in the opposition. It is a hopeless cause as most of the Singaporean heads are in the ground and nothing will change them.

Anonymous said...

According to Goldman Sack's CEO, derivatives are very sophiscated products. I just wonder how many rms or MAS have full grasp of what is minibond, jubilee notes and high notes.

Anonymous said...

"derivatives are very sophiscated products"

Not really lah ... anybody with A-Level knowledge of F Maths calculus and statistics can understand how it is structured, the probability distributions that are assumed, plus daily updating of valuations and projections.

Oh, I forgot ... O-Level dropouts are able to sell such junk after passing some tikam-tikam exams.

Anonymous said...

Why MAS bother to understand a product when it helps to generate business which leads to better GDP and then leads to better Ministers' salary and finally flows down to MAS in the form of bonus and promotion.

Summary? Taxpayers pay MAS salaries and MAS work very hard to make Govt looks good e.g. Confusing statistic on Minibond compensation until Hong Kong people thought we were compensated 95% in one their earlier report.

Anonymous said...

TO ALL READING:-
all these 'hedging'& playing both sides of the coins have been all along instituted & licensed,think for a moment,who is behind to back & finace these deals,knowing well is a 'scheme'of head i will,tail u loose,such is capitalism,such is crook with licence to kill & granted by most if not all govt of the capitalism world!& here in SE included!so, how could u as a layman win..?is outright robbery but they do not gun u down,they handed you the gun & ask u to pull e trigger & in this name,e idiots ones are u bcus u pull e trigger! is sad but facts of life,the big eat the small BUT these institution are elected at times,do they care,WELL TO EACH COUNTRY U HAVE TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION OR HAVE U TO FIGHT FOR IT?what is happening is ONLY THE TIP,e question is now,HOW BIG THE DICE GONNA ROLL BY OBAMA's TEAM,& mind u,i had said before,IS BIG & the domino effect if any is BIGGER THAN JUST LEHMAN BROS..so,who is e hero to shoot the first arrow that shall eventually break e bow? await dear men,stay tune & keep low,do not speculate or even 'invest'if u can,keep cash & hold gold(only when it touch 1020USD)but dollar will be long in time of 'cisis',this will happen because the link is pulled toward this direction,e chain effect will tumble BIG HOUSE name(in US & Europe)in Asia,however with 'protectionsim'& in e name of market play,u die your business except with HK,the regulator are more caring & for SE,fat hope!!so, next time be smart!!don't be an idiot to pull your own trigger but the coming around is to haunt those who hunted the innocence of working class man,entice u with a few %interest,& alot fell for it,in swap,hedge or even strike, anything less then 12%is nver interesting & here we are talking about interest(profit)for institution alone,nothing less then even 125%!!!!!!good luck!

Anonymous said...

Wonder why bother to have 1 day cooling period after election day. Even if 1 month makes no difference to me. My decision is cast on stone.

Anonymous said...

I see no point in asking questions like:-

"Any reply from MAS?"
"I hope the authority can look into it?"
"Is MAS doing anything about it?"
"Why MAS not taking actions?"

MAS is as good as dead in terms of protecting and helping Singaporeans. Their job description is to paint a good Monetary Picture of Singapore Economy and wait for instructions from the Chairman or Deputy Chairman. The most recent result is MAS MD promotion while the 10,000 of us still fuming about the whole MB saga.

Anonymous said...

Agreed with Anon 3.49 PM.
MAS is a dead duck already, so please stop asking them to intevene
this and that.
Even being challenged in mail to the Forum Editor of ST, they just keep their mouths shut.
So just rely on yourself. MAS just care about their job promotion, pay increase and blowing their own trumpets after copying other regulators, and saving their own face when they make mistakes.
What SEC charging Goldman Sach for fraud, MAS just feign ignorance.

Anonymous said...

"What SEC charging Goldman Sach for fraud, MAS just feign ignorance."

Don't forget Goldman Sachs sit on the International Advisory Panel of MAS. Wonder what advice Goldman Sachs gave MAS with regard to CDOs?

Anonymous said...

The GS advise to MAS?

BUY!

Anonymous said...

MAS is being very silent on the subject of CDO Fraud case in US which also affected many Singaporeans who bought structured Notes loaded with CDO.
Is MAS = Must Act Stupid?

Anonymous said...

MAS is and will always be silient because MAS = More Actions Soon?

Why?

When facing real problems, it will keep quiet and convince itself more actions soon. In the end, no action unless Chairman says so.

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