It's the YEN! US weak, Europe SUCKS, "Only 3 World currency" folks took a whipping other day on the Swiss Franc. THEN, THEN, No one has mentioned the woes at C!!!!!March 7, 2001
FTC Charges Citigroup Unit
In Predatory Lending Case
By Paul Beckett
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Associates First Capital Corp., now part of financial-services giant Citigroup Inc., alleging that the consumer-finance company engaged in widespread and systematic predatory lending practices.
If the FTC proves its allegations in court, Citigroup could face liabilities of $1 billion or more(cont)
public.wsj.com
Tuesday March 6, 6:03 pm Eastern Time
Feds Won't Support Fake Money Measure
By MARCY GORDON
AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Administration officials on Tuesday stopped short of supporting recommendations of a key Democratic senator for cracking down on foreign banks' use of big U.S. banks for laundering money from drug trafficking and other illicit activities.
A new report by Senate investigators already has led to the closing of some offshore banks identified as high-risk.
``We are looking very carefully at it,'' Joseph M. Myers, the Treasury Department's acting deputy assistant secretary for enforcement policy, said at a Senate subcommittee hearing. He was referring to recommendations by Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, senior Democrat on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee's investigative panel, that include prohibiting U.S. banks from opening correspondent accounts for shell banks with no physical presence.
Because the Bush administration has only been in office for a few weeks, Myers said, it would be premature for Treasury to take a position.
The Internal Revenue Service, meanwhile, said its agents had raided the California office of Jerome Schneider, who writes books of advice on moving assets offshore to avoid taxes, and the Los Angeles office of Schneider's lawyer Eric Witmeyer.
Schneider's books include ``The Complete Guide to Offshore Money Havens'' and ``How to Own Your Own Private International Bank.''
Harland Braun, another attorney representing Schneider, said his client had not violated any laws.
Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, appeared as a speaker at a Schneider seminar in Vancouver, Canada, in June 1999 and was quoted in an advertisement as recommending one of Schneider's books. Retired Marine Col. and Iran-Contra figure Oliver North also has given speeches at two of the seminars, in Vancouver and Hawaii.
Ken Johnson, Tauzin's spokesman, said Tuesday it was his idea that Tauzin speak at the seminar to promote a retail sales tax to replace the national income tax. After they spent some time there, Johnson said, ``I realized it was a mistake and I got him out of there as soon as possible.''
Regarding the quote in the ad, which appeared in The Wall Street Journal and other publications, Johnson said Tauzin ``never read the book'' and the quote he provided ``was intended to be innocuous and certainly not an endorsement.''
North's spokesman, Tom Kilgannon, said North's speeches were about politics, not taxes, and were arranged by a professional speakers bureau.
``We did not know that any of this was going on'' with Schneider, Kilgannon said.
Democratic staff of the Senate investigative subcommittee found in a yearlong investigation that many big U.S. banks have failed to take adequate steps to prevent laundering of dirty money through their correspondent bank accounts.
The investigators' report named Bank of America Corp. [NYSE:BAC - news], Bank of New York Co., Bank One Corp., Chase Manhattan -- now part of JP Morgan Chase & Co. -- Citigroup Inc.'s (NYSE:C - news) Citibank unit, First Union Corp., FleetBoston Financial Corp. [NYSE:FBF - news], Wells Fargo & Co. and other U.S. banks.
(cont)
biz.yahoo.com
Then here Citi-Group said they are reducing spending - Broadly reported "C" didn't play gold derivatives Until AFTER Rubin started (may not be expecting future short gold profits???)
biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday March 6, 5:13 pm Eastern Time
Feds Accuse Citigroup of Deceit
By DAVID HO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A company recently acquired by Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - news), used extensive deceptive lending practices to manipulate people into buying overpriced mortgages and credit insurance, the Federal Trade Commission charged Tuesday.
Government officials said they were seeking hundreds of millions of dollars for victimized consumers.
Associates First Capital Corp., bought last November by Citigroup, got consumers to consolidate their debts into a single loan -- usually a home equity loan -- with the promise of lower monthly interest payments, according to a lawsuit filed against Citigroup in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The new loans, however, often came with substantial fees that made it even more expensive than the original debt.
``They primarily victimized consumers who were the most vulnerable -- hard working homeowners who had to borrow to meet emergency needs and often had no other access to capital,'' Jodie Bernstein, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.
The New York-based Citigroup said it already has established ways for customers to get ``any issues addressed.''
``We have reached out to nearly a half million customers including every Associates home loan customer, and we will continue these outreach efforts,'' the company said in a statement. ``We are hopeful that the FTC will come to recognize that its decision to pursue this case is counterproductive to our shared objective of ensuring the availability of attractive loan products to all borrowers.''
While the government lawsuit doesn't seek any specific damages, the complaint asks the court to reimburse consumers and to stop the company from making further violations.
At the time Associates was acquired by Citigroup, it was one of the nation's largest lenders to high-risk borrowers, the FTC said. Like other similar lenders, Associates charged interest rates much higher than those available to lower-risk consumers.
The FTC also charged that Associates made borrowers unknowingly purchase credit insurance products by automatically including them in monthly loan payments.
The government complaint said that at loan closings, the company rushed consumers through the process and discouraged them from removing the additional credit insurance, which in some cases added thousands of dollars to loan costs.
The FTC, citing Associates' public records, said the company earned more than $500 million from 1995 through 1999 through their credit insurance sales.
The complaint also charges that Associates used abusive tactics to collect their loans, like making harassing telephone calls. The company also violated federal regulations by failing to keep proper records and improperly using consumers' credit reports to do such things as solicit new customers, the complaint alleges.
Consumers with questions about the lawsuit can call the FTC toll-free at 1-877-382-4357.
On the Net:
FTC: ftc.gov
Citigroup: citigroup.com
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