Egypt Closes Banks, Stock Market; Protests Spread to Saudi Arabia, Jordan; Saudi King Backs Mubarak; Reflections on Misguided US Policy

Illegal Nightmare? Banker who WikiLeaked tax evaders data 'guilty'  (youtube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEI9jeweB1M


http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/01/egypt-closes-banks-stock-market_29.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MishsGlobalEconomicTrendAnalysis+%28Mish%27s+Global+Economic+Trend+Analysis%29
Excerpt:

Egypt Closes Banks, Stock Market; Protests Spread to Saudi Arabia, Jordan; Saudi King Backs Mubarak; Reflections on Misguided US Policy

One sure way to get people fired up is to shut down the stock market and all the banks, thereby denying citizens access to their money. Yet, that is exactly the desperate course of action chosen by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Protests have now spread to Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. So far however, the protests in Saudi Arabia are of a peaceful nature, mostly related to government response to flooding. Recent history suggests that may change at any moment into something far more significant.

In a move that can easily backfire, the Saudi king defended Mubarak and offered support.

Meanwhile, in Jordan, the pace of protests have now picked up as opposition supporters have held rallies in Amman and called for the resignation of Jordan's prime minister.

Egyptian Bourse, Banks to Close

Bloomberg reports Egyptian Bourse, Banks to Close Tomorrow on Unrest

http://www.thehalsreport.com/2011/01/looters-in-egypt-identified-as-police-officers-rapid-developments/
Excerpt:

Egyptian police releasing prisoners?

Update:
A reporter on Al Jazeera TV just announced some of the looters in Tahrir square have been identified as police officers, he also claimed police officers have been releasing criminals from prison in an attempt to scare Egyptian citizens.
Is this an attempt by the government and military to show they have control over the situation, or is this a much larger, wider military action beginning to form?
Several Egyptian judges expressed concern for the citizens in Tahrir square just moments ago. The judges also claimed police officers released prisoners from jail in an attempt to scare the population back into their homes. Looters in the area have also been identified as police officers.
In Alexandria, tens of thousands of citizens are chanting “hang Mubarak” according to a female Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground. The same reporter also reported shots fired in the area.
This is a breaking news story, check back shortly for updates.
Several Egyptian judges expressed concern for the citizens in Tahrir square just moments ago. The judges also claimed police officers released prisoners from jail in an attempt to scare the population back into their homes. Looters in the area have also been identified as police officers.
In Alexandria, tens of thousands of citizens are chanting “hang Mubarak” according to a female Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground. The same reporter also reported shots fired in the area.
This is a breaking news story, check back shortly for updates.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/al-jazeera-shut-down-as-mubarak-fights-for-control-of-airwaves-2198994.html
Excerpt:
Al Jazeera shut down as Mubarak fights for control of airwaves
By Catrina Stewart

Monday, 31 January 2011
Al Jazeera's HQ in Qatar. Its Cairo staff were told yesterday they had been taken off air
Opinionated, critical and more than a little frenzied in its reporting, the Al Jazeera network's aggressive style has irked Arab governments by shining an unwelcome spotlight on dissent.
Now Egypt has shut down the Cairo operations of Al Jazeera as part of a crackdown against widespread anti-government demonstrations. The move comes at a time when Al Jazeera is arguably at its most influential in its 15-year history, galvanising popular support against the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia and prompting the ire of rattled regional leaders.
The pan-Arab channel, which is owned by the Emir of Qatar, was quick to denounce Egypt's move as "silencing the voices of the Egyptian people".
Egypt has good reason to be worried. Al Jazeera was instrumental in disseminating the first grainy images of unrest and police brutality in Tunisia. Within weeks, protesters had ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power. The images from Tunisia inspired others in the region similarly affected by grinding poverty and unemployment, and protests swept across the region to Libya, Yemen, Jordan and Egypt.
Al Jazeera may be a controversial force in the Middle East – often criticised for slanted reporting and pursuing an openly populist agenda – but is the first Arab channel to reach into homes across the region, outplaying tightly controlled state media. Nevertheless, it was slow to report on the protests in Egypt, leading instead with its exposure of 1,600 secret papers from Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Analysts said it seemed probable that Qatar did not want to be seen instigating an uprising, but to many Egyptians, it smacked of betrayal. Instead, it was Facebook and Twitter that proved key in galvanising the protesters. But when Al Jazeera did finally join the fray after the protests turned violent, it provided some of the most comprehensive coverage of the clashes from Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, putting the state broadcaster to shame.
But it went a step too far when it aired an interview with Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a cleric and mentor of the banned opposition movement the Muslim Brotherhood, who called on President Mubarak to leave the country. The channel was promptly ordered off air.
But while the protests may well be seen as Al Jazeera's defining moment, the station attracts criticism in equal measure. The Palestinian Authority has accused the channel – widely seen as more sympathetic towards the rival Islamist movement Hamas – of a smear campaign aimed at provoking the Palestinians into revolt against their leaders. Protesters vandalised Al Jazeera's offices in Ramallah last week, accusing it of working for Israel.
The station also came under attack in Lebanon during riots last week. Supporters of the ousted Sunni premier accused the channel of supporting Shia militia Hezbollah, which they say is trying to put Lebanon under Syrian and Iranian control.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch
Excerpt:
Tunisia

Main article: Tunisia Campaign

As a result of the German and Italian occupation of Vichy France and their unsuccessful attempt to capture the interned French fleet at Toulon (Operation Lila), the French Armée d’Afrique sided with the Allies, providing a third corps (XIX Corps) for Anderson. Elsewhere, French warships, such as the battleship Richelieu, rejoined the Allies.
On 9 November Axis forces started to build up in Tunisia unopposed by the local French forces under General Barré. Wracked with indecision, Barré moved his troops into the hills and formed a defensive line from Teboursouk through Medjez el Bab and ordered that anyone trying to pass through the line would be shot. On 19 November the German commander, Walter Nehring, demanded passage for his troops across the bridge at Medjez and was refused. The Germans attacked the poorly equipped French units twice and were driven back. However, the French had taken heavy casualties and, lacking artillery and armour, Barré was forced to withdraw.^[12]
After consolidating in Algeria, the Allies struck into Tunisia. Forces in the British 1st Army under Lieutenant General Kenneth Anderson almost reached Tunis before a counterattack at Djedeida thrust them back. In January 1943, German and Italian troops under General Erwin Rommel retreating westwards from Libya reached Tunisia.
The British 8th Army in the East, commanded by General Bernard Montgomery, stopped around Tripoli to allow reinforcements to arrive and build up the Allied advantage. In the West the forces of General Anderson came under attack at the end of January being forced back from the Faïd Pass and then suffering a reversal at Sidi Bou Zid on 14–15 February. Axis forces pushed on to Sbeitla and then to the Kasserine Pass on 19 February where the Allied forces retreated in disarray until heavy Allied reinforcements halted the Axis advance on 22 February.
General Harold Alexander arrived in Tunisia in late February to take charge of the new 15th Army Group headquarters, which had been created to take overall control of both the Eighth Army and the Allied forces already fighting in Tunisia. The Axis forces again attacked eastwards at Medenine on 6 March but were easily repulsed by Eighth Army. Rommel counselled Hitler to allow a full retreat to a defensible line but was denied, and on 9 March Rommel left Tunisia to be replaced by Jürgen von Arnim, who had to spread his forces over 100 miles (160 km) of northern Tunisia.
The setbacks at Kasserine forced the Allies to consolidate their forces and develop their lines of communication and administration so that they could support a major attack. The 1st Army and the 8th Army then attacked the Axis in April. Hard fighting followed, but the Allies cut off the Germans and Italians from support by naval and air forces between Tunisia and Sicily. On 6 May, as the culmination of Operation Vulcan, the British took Tunis, and American forces reached Bizerte. By 13 May the Axis forces in Tunisia had surrendered.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Tunisia-to-Egypt-an-Arab-upheaval/articleshow/7382198.cms
Excerpt:

Tunisia to Egypt, an Arab upheaval

The Arab street is on fire, how far will it spread? As the Tunisian contagion catches on and violent protests sweep through Egypt and Yemen, authoritarian regimes in the Arab world are facing unexpected challenges that could rearrange the political landscape in this part of the world.

The trigger was December 17's Jasmine Revolution, when a young man set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzidi, south of Tunis. For the next four weeks, demonstrations intensified — morphing from economic grievances to governance and corruption,

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x307850
Excerpt:
United States had taken up the fight with the giant Swiss bank and gone to court to get access to bank accounts of 52,000 wealthy Americans suspected to hide away 15 billion dollars from the IRS.

The day before the trial entered the United States and Switzerland, a surprising compromise - which was interpreted as a victory for the Swiss banks. A peace treaty between the U.S. and Switzerland."
...
Aftenposten can reveal that behind the agreement between Switzerland and the United States there was a secret, large-scale diplomatic horse-trading, which meant that the Swiss bank avoided a calamitous public trial, one billion claims and exclusion from the United States:

• Switzerland promised to close the controversial Swedish nuclear project in Iran that Aftenposten spoke Monday.
• In addition, Switzerland undertake to accept prisoners from Guantanamo.
• In return the U.S. would contribute to a "political settlement" of the Swiss bank.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/is-wikileaks-leaking-norwegian-paper-scoops-assange/articleshow/7389489.cms

The United States had taken up the fight with the giant Swiss bank and gone to court to get access to bank accounts of 52,000 wealthy Americans suspected to hide away 15 billion dollars from the IRS.

The day before the trial entered the United States and Switzerland, a surprising compromise - which was interpreted as a victory for the Swiss banks. A peace treaty between the U.S. and Switzerland."

Aftenposten can reveal that behind the agreement between Switzerland and the United States there was a secret, large-scale diplomatic horse-trading, which meant that the Swiss bank avoided a calamitous public trial, one billion claims and exclusion from the United States:

• Switzerland promised to close the controversial Swedish nuclear project in Iran that Aftenposten spoke Monday.
• In addition, Switzerland undertake to accept prisoners from Guantanamo.
• In return the U.S. would contribute to a "political settlement" of the Swiss bank.

http://www.assetprotectionlawjournal.com/articles/swiss-bank-accounts-1/
Excerpt:

Crackdown Continues On Offshore Tax Schemes

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Ken Laino

UBS (the giant Swiss financial institution) has received a lot of bad press recently in connection with offshore tax evasion schemes.  More UBS clients were indicted earlier this month, but federal authorities are focusing on other financial institutions as well.  Lynnley Browning reported last week in the New York Times that arrests have now been made in connection with an international tax evasion scheme said to involve HSBC.
The latest case involves real estate developers who sold a hotel in New York City and allegedly routed the proceeds through sham accounts in Panama, the Virgin Islands, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the Bahamas to evade taxes.  The complaint against the real estate developers (filed in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) describes how federal agents used wire taps in 2007 to record various phone conversations.  This shows that authorities are using more aggressive techniques in fighting offshore schemes.
I was setting up companies in Panama for clients more than thirty years ago.  These entities, however, were used for very legitimate business, tax, and asset protection purposes.  Using offshore companies or trusts to unlawfully evade U.S. taxes or for other unlawful purposes is becoming more and more difficult -- as it should be.

http://www.prosperityeconomics.org/ubsbank.html

Excerpt:

A SWISS BANK SCANDAL:
MIS-Using the Nation's Credit Flow
A Factual Report
Quoted from The Economist, January 31st, 1998

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/195009.php
Excerpt:
Robert Wolf is the President & Chief Operating Officer for UBS Investment Bank. He also serves as Chairman & CEO for UBS Group for the Americas.
Hopey, changey has a lot of IOU's.


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2625790/posts
Excerpt:
Organizations Funded Directly by George Soros and his Open Society Institute
Discover the Networks ^ | 2010 | Staff
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2010 5:21:14 PM by bronxville
Organizations Funded Directly by George Soros and his Open Society Institute
By Discover The Networks
Organizations that, in recent years, have received direct funding and assistance from George Soros and his Open Society Institute (OSI) include the following. (Comprehensive profiles of each are available in the "Groups" section of DiscoverTheNetworks.org):
Air America Radio: Now defunct, this was a self-identified "liberal" radio network.
Alliance for Justice: Best known for its activism vis a vis the appointment of federal judges, this group consistently depicts Republican judicial nominees as "extremists."
America Coming Together: Soros played a major role in creating this group, whose purpose was to coordinate and organize pro-Democrat voter-mobilization programs. America Votes: Soros also played a major role in creating this group, whose get-out-the-vote campaigns targeted likely Democratic voters.
America's Voice: This open-borders group seeks to promote “comprehensive” immigration reform that includes a robust agenda in favor of amnesty for illegal aliens. American Bar Association Commission on Immigration Policy: This organization "opposes laws that require employers and persons providing education, health care, or other social services to verify citizenship or immigration status."
American Civil Liberties Union: This group opposes virtually all post-9/11 national security measures enacted by the U.S. government. It supports open borders, has rushed to the defense of suspected terrorists and their abettors, and appointed former New Left terrorist Bernardine Dohrn to its Advisory Board.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/swiss-banks-mantra-of-go-east-carries-risks-2010-05-18
Excerpt:
This new direction has come about as the U.S. and Europe -- indeed the whole of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development -- increasingly press the Swiss government to put into place the automatic exchange of tax information. This is seriously eroding one of Switzerland's unique selling points: no blabbing to foreign tax authorities. The country's 76 year-old secrecy laws limit the amount of information shared with third parties. The current laws permit banks to give out information only in cases of criminal acts -- cue politicians splitting hairs over the definition of tax fraud and tax evasion.
Their banking advantage has been severely tested recently. UBS is facing a possibly explosive lawsuit in the U.S. if it doesn't hand over the names of allegedly tax dodging clients. Meanwhile, the OECD had threatened to put the country on its "black list," resulting in a flurry of tax treaties. While the Swiss government claims that bank secrecy still holds, most observers think it's only a matter of time before Switzerland capitulates on the automatic transfer of tax information -- at least with its most vocal critics. The Swiss economy simply cannot afford to be frozen out of Europe and the U.S.
So what's a bank to do? Find a (relatively) new focus. Apart from the die-hards who claim that the Swiss will never surrender their bank secrecy for any country, the conventional wisdom at the moment is that emerging markets will save the Swiss private banking sector. Their rich entrepreneurs, who live in relatively unstable (but low tax) countries, aren't too concerned about hiding assets from tax authorities. Rather, they are attracted by Switzerland's stable government, efficiency and discretion of its bankers, and rock-like currency.

http://wharfyouth.org/ex-swiss-banker-linked-to-wikileaks-goes-on-trial-reuters/30832
Excerpt:
Bу Martin de Sa’Pinto аnd Emma Thomasson Martin De Sa’pinto And Emma Thomasson1 hr 25 mins ago

ZURICH (Reuters) – Former Swiss landowner Rudolf Elmer, аmοng thе initial tο υѕе WikiLeaks tο tell in isolation bank documents, wеnt οn conference οn Wednesday charged wіth breaching promissory note privacy аnd melancholy hіѕ former employer.
Thе one-time Julius Baer senior manager іѕ indicted οf mаkіng threats tο thе bank’s personnel, together with the explosve threat, аnd looking money іn lapse fοr tip bank data, аnd аlѕο faces charges οf breaching bank аnd corporate secrecy.
Prosecutors аrе asking fοr Elmer, whο headed Baer’s bureau іn thе Cayman Islands until hе wаѕ dismissed bу thе bank іn 2002, tο bе condemned tο аn eight-month jail tenure аnd the 2,000 Swiss franc ($2,083) fine. Thе conference іѕ approaching tο final јυѕt the single day.
Wednesday’s box dοеѕ nοt regard hіѕ announcement οn WikiLeaks, bυt progressing purported breaches οf bank аnd corporate privacy іn Switzerland.
Thе conference іn Zurich hаѕ drawn extended media courtesy аnd аbουt the dozen protesters collected іn front οf thе justice building.