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Greece Paid Goldman $300 Million To Help It Hide Its Ballooning Debts
Clusterstock ^ | 2/14/10 | Henry Blodget

Posted on 02/14/2010 7:18:12 PM PST by DontTreadOnMe2009

In 2001, just after Greece was admitted to Europe’s monetary union, Goldman helped the government quietly borrow billions, people familiar with the transaction said. That deal, hidden from public view because it was treated as a currency trade rather than a loan, helped Athens to meet Europe’s deficit rules while continuing to spend beyond its means...

Instruments developed by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and a wide range of other banks enabled politicians to mask additional borrowing in Greece, Italy and possibly elsewhere.

In dozens of deals across the Continent, banks provided cash upfront in return for government payments in the future, with those liabilities then left off the books. Greece, for example, traded away the rights to airport fees and lottery proceeds in years to come.

[Greece paid Goldman] about $300 million in fees for arranging the 2001 transaction, according to several bankers familiar with the deal.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: eu; goldman; goldmansachs; greece; gs; wallstreet
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To: who_would_fardels_bear

Bingo!


41 posted on 02/15/2010 4:23:40 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (I was born in America, but now I live in Declinistan.)
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To: packrat35

“Yet many people here on FR call everyone who gets into financial trouble “deadbeats,””

Some of the finest people I know at my church have lost their jobs. Many of them had been on the job 5-20 years.I suppose they are now “deadbeats” too.


42 posted on 02/15/2010 4:42:47 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (Support our troops, and vote out the RINOS)
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To: Liz; hoosiermama; onyx; STARWISE

Greece paid Goldman Sachs $300 million in fees for arranging the 2001 transaction, according to several bankers familiar with the deal.

PING!


43 posted on 02/15/2010 4:53:12 AM PST by maggief
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To: maggief

B U M P


44 posted on 02/15/2010 5:41:59 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (Support our troops, and vote out the RINOS)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Surely this monkey business can’t be exclusive to Greece.l........

I think I read Italy did it a bit


45 posted on 02/15/2010 5:49:54 AM PST by dennisw (It all comes 'round again --Fairport)
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To: who_would_fardels_bear

correct!


46 posted on 02/15/2010 5:51:09 AM PST by dennisw (It all comes 'round again --Fairport)
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To: kingpins10

“You and me both. NWO banks like Goldman and JP have profited from this mess big time, while bankrolling the transition to globalism.”

NAILED it!!


47 posted on 02/15/2010 5:57:03 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (Support our troops, and vote out the RINOS)
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To: dennisw

“Surely this monkey business can’t be exclusive to Greece.l........”

Almost every large financial transgression has Goldman Sachs fingerprints on it. Coincidence? I think not.


48 posted on 02/15/2010 6:00:28 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (Support our troops, and vote out the RINOS)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
If Greece made promises in treaties it knew it could not keep, I’d say that comes as close as you can get.

Sure, but there's no criminal justice mechanism that can do anything about it. And thank goodness there isn't. I suppose someone could sue the government of Greece in the World Court, but since they're bankrupt, there's nothing to be gained from it.

All these people who want "Greece" to be treated as a criminal haven't asked the obvious question: who is it that can prosecute a sovereign nation, and before what tribunal? Wouldn't that have to be a World Government? Let's be careful what we wish for.


49 posted on 02/15/2010 6:26:16 AM PST by Nick Danger (Free cheese is found only in mousetraps)
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To: DontTreadOnMe2009
HIGHLIGHTS-Greek FinMin unveils tax reform, wage policy

Mentions Greece making cash transactions above 1500 euros illegal in 2011.

Makes my hair stand on end...

50 posted on 02/15/2010 6:29:24 AM PST by mewzilla (I'm not a socialist. Heck, yes, I hope Barry fails. Sheesh.)
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To: maggief

WHen ever I read an article like this my mind goes back to the article from an Indian paper that was pulled. Posted in the middle of the night (Sept or Oct) it mention an international ponzi scam involving nations, banks etc that would make Made-Off look like small change.
Bumped it to read in the morning, but in the morning it was gone.


51 posted on 02/15/2010 6:40:55 AM PST by hoosiermama (ONLY DEAD FISH GO WITH THE FLOW.......I am swimming with Sarahcudah! Sarah has read the tealeaves.)
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To: hoosiermama

Do you recall any other details or key words?


52 posted on 02/15/2010 6:47:25 AM PST by maggief
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To: maggief

Is there an Indian Times?

Remember “International Ponzi Scheme” was in the first paragraph. That’s what caught my attention.

AN international investigation was being conducted.

“Dwarft Made=off” was mentioned, but only as a comparison.

Danger to the economy of entire countries.

I tried to google it the next morning and found nothing (after I found nothing on FR even similar). Does this help?


53 posted on 02/15/2010 7:00:31 AM PST by hoosiermama (ONLY DEAD FISH GO WITH THE FLOW.......I am swimming with Sarahcudah! Sarah has read the tealeaves.)
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To: ClearCase_guy; DontTreadOnMe2009
Goldman owns the Obama administration.

You got that right.........

Goldman Sachs Will Be Sitting Pretty With Emanuel in the Obama White House
By: Timothy P. Carney, Examiner Columnist, Nov 21, 2008

Goldman Sachs always has clout in Washington, as evidenced by the firm’s alumni serving as Treasury secretaries under both Presidents Bush and Clinton. Today, in these tumultuous times of bailouts and meltdowns when the investment banking leviathan needs Washington more than ever before, Goldman can leverage its most valuable asset yet—incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Goldman Sachs is the giant of Wall Street, and more than any other investment bank, Goldman is surviving the current financial storm.

Traditionally a Democratic booster, and one of Barack Obama’s top sources of funds in this past election, Goldman has always had some particularly strong allies within government. Emanuel is one such ally. An interesting early chapter in the Goldman-Emanuel relationship took place in the setting of Bill Clinton’s campaign for the White House in 1992. Clinton hired Emanuel as his chief fundraiser.

At the same time, however, Emanuel was on the payroll of Goldman Sachs, receiving $3,000 per month from the firm to “introduce us to people,” in the words of one Goldman partner at the time. This is certainly a noteworthy relationship, but it’s one that has almost entirely escaped scrutiny. (snip)

In his four terms in Congress, Emanuel has raised $74,750 from Goldman, making the firm his number four source of funds. Goldman has helped Emanuel. How has Emanuel helped Goldman? The most obvious answer, as mentioned in this column two weeks ago, is in Emanuel’s lead role in shepherding the “$700 billion” bailout—first proposed by former a Goldman CEO, Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson—through the skeptical House.

Of course, back in the Clinton days, Goldman benefited from NAFTA and the bailout of the Mexican currency, with Emanuel pushing NAFTA through Congress, and Rubin hammering out the peso bailout. Did Goldman improperly funnel money to the Clinton campaign by subsidizing Emanuel’s salary in 1992? Did Goldman’s help to Clinton spur the Democratic president to push NAFTA and the Mexican bailout?

The answers to these questions are opaque, and with Emanuel burrowed deep within the Obama White House, the continued relationship between Goldman Sachs and Obama’s right hand man won’t be easy to follow.

Watch which regulations of Wall Street Obama fights for. Watch where the bailout money goes. And don’t be surprised Goldman soon sitting pretty once again.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/TimothyCarney/

THINGS WE DO NOT KNOW ABOUT RAHM Did Wall Street Rahm reveal all of his ties to financial institutions involved in Obama's trillion dollar federal bailout of financials.......like Goldman Sachs, for instance?

54 posted on 02/15/2010 7:27:44 AM PST by Liz (A person who smiles in the face of adversity probably has a scapegoat nearby.)
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To: stephenjohnbanker
Police say Bruce walked into a Bank of America on Jan. 15 and slipped a teller a demand note. They say he did the same on Feb. 1 at a SunTrust Bank and on Feb. 10 at another Bank of America. The first two times, he left on foot. The third, he brought his old pickup. He never used a gun and never covered his face. Each time, he asked for $600.

"Why only $600 if you're going to rob a bank?" Amen asked. "Why not $60,000?"

In the demand notes, the robber characterized his actions as something other than a robbery, and police said Bruce told them he intended to repay the money.

The above is from a story printed in the St. Petersburg Times. The robber was a small business owner - in his 70's... You're right - sad.

55 posted on 02/15/2010 7:28:41 AM PST by GOPJ (Nobody likes to be lectured by those claiming superior wisdom but lacking common sense - - Hanson)
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To: stephenjohnbanker
On Thursday, James W. Bruce, a 73-year-old grandfather, garnered attention when police arrested him on three counts of bank robbery. He told officers he needed the money to pay his mortgage.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/older-isnt-always-wiser-as-jail-records-show/1072913

56 posted on 02/15/2010 7:31:38 AM PST by GOPJ (Nobody likes to be lectured by those claiming superior wisdom but lacking common sense - - Hanson)
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To: GOPJ

“The robber was a small business owner - in his 70’s.”

Obamanomics......coming to a small business near you.


57 posted on 02/15/2010 7:39:21 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (Support our troops, and vote out the RINOS)
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To: DontTreadOnMe2009

LEST WE FORGET.

Greece’s troubles will look like a day in the park compared to the demons what this country is facing. The Greeks have already faced horrors unimaginable to us: a Communist guerilla war, Muslim invaders over a period of hundreds of years etc. Now these enemies are turning their attention farther to the west-—the US

“We are a guerilla organization. We are Communist women and men, underground in the US for more than four years.” ad nauseum

This is Ayers-—Obama’s right hand man - his comrade in arms.


58 posted on 02/15/2010 8:14:08 AM PST by eleni121 (For Jesus did not give us a timid spirit , but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline)
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To: Liz

Goldman Sachs Will Be Sitting Pretty With Emanuel in the Obama White House
By: Timothy P. Carney, Examiner Columnist, Nov 21, 2008

Goldman Sachs always has clout in Washington, as evidenced by the firm’s alumni serving as Treasury secretaries under both Presidents Bush and Clinton. Today, in these tumultuous times of bailouts and meltdowns when the investment banking leviathan needs Washington more than ever before, Goldman can leverage its most valuable asset yet—incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Goldman Sachs is the giant of Wall Street, and more than any other investment bank, Goldman is surviving the current financial storm.

Traditionally a Democratic booster, and one of Barack Obama’s top sources of funds in this past election, Goldman has always had some particularly strong allies within government. Emanuel is one such ally. An interesting early chapter in the Goldman-Emanuel relationship took place in the setting of Bill Clinton’s campaign for the White House in 1992. Clinton hired Emanuel as his chief fundraiser.

At the same time, however, Emanuel was on the payroll of Goldman Sachs, receiving $3,000 per month from the firm to “introduce us to people,” in the words of one Goldman partner at the time. This is certainly a noteworthy relationship, but it’s one that has almost entirely escaped scrutiny. (snip)

In his four terms in Congress, Emanuel has raised $74,750 from Goldman, making the firm his number four source of funds. Goldman has helped Emanuel. How has Emanuel helped Goldman? The most obvious answer, as mentioned in this column two weeks ago, is in Emanuel’s lead role in shepherding the “$700 billion” bailout—first proposed by former a Goldman CEO, Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson—through the skeptical House.

Of course, back in the Clinton days, Goldman benefited from NAFTA and the bailout of the Mexican currency, with Emanuel pushing NAFTA through Congress, and Rubin hammering out the peso bailout. Did Goldman improperly funnel money to the Clinton campaign by subsidizing Emanuel’s salary in 1992? Did Goldman’s help to Clinton spur the Democratic president to push NAFTA and the Mexican bailout?

The answers to these questions are opaque, and with Emanuel burrowed deep within the Obama White House, the continued relationship between Goldman Sachs and Obama’s right hand man won’t be easy to follow.

Watch which regulations of Wall Street Obama fights for. Watch where the bailout money goes. And don’t be surprised Goldman soon sitting pretty once again.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/TimothyCarney/

THINGS WE DO NOT KNOW ABOUT RAHM Did Wall Street Rahm reveal all of his ties to financial institutions involved in Obama’s trillion dollar federal bailout of financials.......like Goldman Sachs, for instance?

Great post.

Thanks.


59 posted on 02/16/2010 9:32:23 AM PST by DontTreadOnMe2009 (So stop treading on me already!)
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To: mewzilla

HIGHLIGHTS-Greek FinMin unveils tax reform, wage policy
Mentions Greece making cash transactions above 1500 euros illegal in 2011.

Makes my hair stand on end...

We are just the “little people” Leona was talking about.

1500 Euro ... what a hoot!


60 posted on 02/16/2010 9:33:37 AM PST by DontTreadOnMe2009 (So stop treading on me already!)
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