--- Begin Message ---
-Caveat Lector-
By BILL MURPHY, Chairman
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
November 30, 2002
Chris Powell, Reg Howe, the entire GATA ARMY,
and I have worked diligently for four years
to expose a financial scandal. On the eve of
the Thanksgiving weekend, GATA received a
press release concerning a French investment
group that had taken issue with the Bank For
International Settlements for their lowball
forced buyout of private shareholders. The
ramifications of the defeat of the BIS ought
to be profoundly in GATA's favor. First, the
press release:
* * *
DEMINOR PRESS RELEASE
26/11/2002
THE BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS:
FIRST VICTORY FOR THE FORMER MINORITY
SHAREHOLDERS
On 25 November 2002, the Arbitral Tribunal in
The Hague made public its decision dated 22
November 2002 regarding the Bank for
International Settlement case.
The Arbitral Tribunal declared the price of
CHF 16,000 imposed by BIS to be inequitable.
The Court has already condemned the BIS to
pay an additional compensation, which will be
superior to CHF 7,000 (approximately EUR
4,800) per share. The precise amount will be
determined by the Tribunal at a later date,
taking into account, among others, the
evaluation of real estate and a discount
rate.
Deminor is delighted at this ruling, which
recognises the unfair treatment of minority
shareholders by the Bank for International
Settlements. The Bank applied a discount of
53 percent on the adjusted net asset value of
the BIS (evaluated at CHF 33,820 per share)
during the January 2001 squeeze-out.
By sentencing the BIS to pay an additional
indemnification, the Court of The Hague
assented to Deminor's arguments contesting
the valuation method adopted by J.P Morgan
(advisory bank) and by Arthur Andersen
(independent expert).
However, Deminor, which launched the
proceedings against these establishments
(including B.I.S.) before the "Tribunal de
Commerce" of Paris in December 2001 on behalf
of its clients, is of the opinion that the
indemnification is still insufficient to be
considered equitable for minority
shareholders.
Accordingly, while rejoicing at the Tribunal
in The Hague's ruling against BIS, Deminor
will pursue the proceeding and will take all
necessary measures to defend the interest of
former minority shareholders.
As a reminder, the Bank for International
Settlements joins more than 50 central banks
worldwide, including the Bank of France, the
Federal Reserve Bank, the National Bank of
Belgium, and the Central Bank of England. Its
Board is composed of the governors of the G7
states.
* * *
Why, GATA supporters may ask, is this
development so important?
Let us go back a bit. In an audacious
maneuver, GATA's Reg Howe filed the following
bold lawsuit. (If this is new to you, I
suggest you take the time to read it, since
GATA's critics refuse to and do not refute).
* * *
The following complaint was filed on December
7, 2000, in the United States District Court
for the District of Massachusetts, Boston,
Massachusetts.
http://www.goldensextant.com/Complaint.html#anchor3130
Later, Reg filed this opposition motion in
the court:
http://www.goldensextant.com/OppositionDOJReply.html#anchor79323
In essence, Reg took on the financial power
structure of the United States. One man had
the gumption to take on the most powerful and
wealthy people in America -- people who have
done as much to hurt my country as anyone in
history. Our financial markets have been
reeling the past few years as a result of
their misguided, arrogant, and corrupt
financial maneuverings in the gold and
financial markets.
When Reg filed the lawsuit suit, the
establishment and the Doug Caseys of the
world cracked, "Howe will be laughed out of
court." The Gold Cartel thought the same and
tried to do just that last November. It did
not quite work out that way. Here's what
GATA's Chris Powell's wrote about the one
hearing in the case on November 6, 2001:
* * *
The case of Howe vs. Bank for International
Settlements et al. -- I like to call it Howe
vs. All the Money in the World -- was roughed
up a little today but survived its first day
of hearing in federal court in Boston.
During 2 1/2 hours of oral argument, U.S.
District Judge Reginald C. Lindsay dismissed
two counts of the lawsuit involving
securities fraud charges against defendant
J.P. Morgan/Chase, and ruled that the
plaintiff's method of serving lawsuit notice
papers against the BIS -- by mail in English
instead of by personal service in German --
was insufficient.
But the two dismissed securities fraud counts
were secondary to the lawsuit's substance,
and the problem with the lawsuit notice
probably can be fixed by a pricey translator
if the lawsuit is allowed to proceed.
The judge took the remainder of the case back
to his chambers for drafting a written
decision on the plaintiffs' motions to
dismiss the rest of the lawsuit. That could
take weeks or months.
The case was called at 2:30 p.m. in a
beautiful and huge courtroom in the opulent
new U.S. courthouse just across Fort Point
Channel from gleaming downtown Boston. About
30 people sat in the audience section at the
back of the courtroom, some of them GATA
supporters, including a few who had come
quite a long way to watch.
Plaintiff Howe sat alone at the counsel's
table on the audience's left. At the
counsel's table on the right sat his
opponents, nine lawyers representing the BIS,
Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, J.P.
Morgan/Chase, Citigroup, the U.S. Treasury
Department, the Federal Reserve Board, and
the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Behind
them in the gallery were still a few more
defendants' lawyers. The defendants' lawyers
seemed to be smirking over their having had
to come all this way just to confront a mere
pro-se litigant, but they seemed to be
smirking less when it was over.
About two-thirds of the hearing consisted of
Judge Lindsay's questioning Howe about the
case and its likely weaknesses. The judge was
exceptionally well-informed about both the
legal technicalities and the broader issues
behind them. While he sought to move the
hearing along, he also was pretty indulgent
in letting Howe explain things.
The hearing wasn't really about whether the
gold market is manipulated. It was about
whether there is any basis in law for the
suit. Thus it turns on legal issues and
technicalities that will interest few of the
partisans of gold and free markets -- issues
like the very limited circumstances under
which the government and government officials
may be sued for official acts. But a few
observations from this partisan may be of
interest:
The judge had trouble seeing in the lawsuit's
claims possible evidence that the bullion
banks had conspired with each other rather
than with the federal government, other than
what was called "parallel conduct" -- their
doing the same things in the market at the
same times. I thought Howe answered this well
by noting that the bullion bank defendants
had issued the overwhelming majority of gold
and interest rate derivatives and essentially
were themselves the markets for those
instruments.
The judge seemed almost obtuse in not
understanding Howe's claim that there was
fraud in the BIS' forcibly redeeming the
shares of its private shareholders at less
than fair value when there had never been any
indication to the private shareholders that
their shares could be taken this way.
One of the lawyers for the government
asserted the government's right, under the
laws establishing the Federal Reserve Board
and the U.S. Treasury Department's Exchange
Stabilization Fund, to trade in gold in a way
affecting gold's price. That is, he almost
seemed to be claiming, on behalf of the
government, the right to do exactly what the
lawsuit complains of, without actually
admitting that this was happening. (Whether
he is right is exactly the legal issue the
suit seeks to settle.) Howe was excellent in
rebutting this claim. He argued that prior to
1974 Congress had fixed the gold price, but
since then has left gold's price to the
market. Thus, Howe said, any government
trading in gold cannot constitutionally aim
to fix the price, and certainly not
surreptitiously. (I thought Howe got by far
the better of this exchange, at least
establishing a point worth litigating.
Unfortunately I was sitting on the wrong side
of the courtroom. We'll just have to wait to
find out what the judge thinks.)
Howe was just as effective in describing the
unfairness of the BIS' liquidating its
private shareholders without recourse and
without arbitration. While the judge at first
had wanted to skip argument on the
arbitration issue, considering it examined
adequately in the legal briefs, Howe managed
to get his approval to make one point and
then another and another, and the effect was
very strong politically -- it gave the
impression of ordinary small investors
getting screwed by arrogant and powerful
people. This happened to be the last issue
discussed, so Howe finished strong, the other
side weak.
When it was over, the courtroom cleared out
quickly, and Howe was left alone at the
counsel table packing his books and papers
into his briefcases. Forgive the
editorializing, but I couldn't help but think
of the scene at the end of the trial in that
wonderful movie, "To Kill a Mockingbird,"
when Gregory Peck, playing the quietly heroic
defense lawyer, Atticus Finch, does the same
thing, seemingly alone -- and yet he is not
alone, but rather watched by the oppressed
people in the gallery with awe, admiration,
and respect for standing up against the most
hateful and vicious power.
What I saw today was really not so different.
I won't guess what will happen with this
case; anything can. Maybe the essence of what
has happened today is that we could have lost
the whole case but didn't. (I spent some time
later with Howe and his business associate,
Bob Landis, and, analyzing the day
clinically, almost as a sport, they seemed
ready to be hopeful.)
We still may lose the case on the
technicalities in a few weeks and should be
prepared for that.
But two things:
Enough of the cursed cynicism that the courts
are as rigged as the markets, that there is
no fighting the power. We know some things
about market rigging but there is no evidence
that anything in court today was rigged. We
got a day in court if not quite yet OUR day
in court. And for all its faults this remains
a country where one brave man pleading his
own case can summon the representatives of
all the money in the world and put the
bastards in danger of having to answer for
themselves.
The lawsuit is an important front in our
struggle for free markets and honest dealing
but it is not the only front, and, win or
lose here, our strategy and plan will be, in
Churchill's words, KBO: Keep buggering on.
Thanks to GATA Chairman Bill Murphy and Howe
and those who have come to their assistance,
we have discovered that the scheme against
gold is only part of a bigger scheme
involving interest rates and currencies to
deprive the financial markets of any
standards of value and to expropriate the
world for the benefit of certain Wall Street
interests and to make the world the slave of
the U.S. dollar.
This deeply shames Americans who understand
it. That is why they will continue to oppose
it as best they can regardless of what
happens in court. It is an anti-imperialist
cause and thus a great cause. And, as
Churchill said, "When great causes are on the
move in the world, we learn that we are
spirits, not animals, and that something is
going on in space and time, and beyond space
and time, which, whether we like it or not,
spells duty."
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
* * *
In the end, Reg's case was dismissed because
Judge Lindsay ruled that Reg did not have the
proper "standing" to bring forth the case.
The judge did not disparage Reg in any way.
The judge's main objection was that what Reg
presented to the court should have been
brought against the bullion banks by a gold
mining company doing business in the United
States. In essence, the judge said the U.S.
Government is above the law and could not be
sued.
Judge Lindsay did not even bother to address
Reg's complaint against the BIS. A U.S.
citizen could not get a federal judge to rule
on an extremely important issue, denying due
process of individual financial rights
against powerful banking institutions.
Was it important an issue? I guess so. For
the BIS' own arbitration tribunal now has
ruled against the bank in an astounding
decision that makes plain how right Reg was
all along.
First, comments on the arbitration panel's
ruling by Reg himself:
* * *
The Bank for International Settlements may
have dodged justice at the hands of the U.S.
federal courts in New York and Boston, but it
did not escape altogether. In a decision
released November 22, 2002 --
www.pca-cpa.org/PDF/BIS%20Award%20final%202.pdf
-- the Arbitration Tribunal established at
the Hague to hear disputes involving the BIS
ruled that the bank employed an improper
valuation methodology in connection with its
compulsory withdrawal in January 2001 of all
privately held shares of its American,
Belgian, and French issues. At that time, the
Bank paid SwF16,000 (approximately US$9,280)
per share based on a valuation prepared by
J.P. Morgan and a supporting fairness opinion
by Arthur Andersen.
In rejecting the bank's valuation, the
tribunal ruled (at paragraph 209) that the
former private shareholders should receive "a
proportionate share of the Net Asset Value of
the Bank, discounted by 30 percent," and that
for this purpose, the bank's NAV is SwF33,820
(or US$19,034), plus the appraised value of
the bank's real estate. In adopting the 30
percent discount rate rather than the
discount rate in excess of 50 percent
employed by J.P. Morgan, the Tribunal stated
(at paragraph 201): "[T]he most telling
evidence in favor of a discount of 30 percent
is the consistent use of it by the bank in
pricing shares issued to new central banks."
The Tribunal has retained jurisdiction to
determine the valuation of the bank's real
estate, the exact per share amount remaining
due to former shareholders (including
interest thereon), the final allocation of
costs of the arbitration, and certain other
minor issues. Accordingly, if the former
shareholders' proportionate share of the
bank's real estate is sufficient to cover the
costs of the arbitration, they should receive
an additional payment of over SwF7674 (or
US$4,044) per share.
The three claimants in the arbitration were
Dr. Horst Reineccius of Germany, Mr. Pierre
Mathieu and la Société Hippique de La Châtre
of France, and First Eagle SoGen Funds Inc.,
of the United States, represented by
Debevoise & Plympton (John H. Hall and Donald
Francis Donovan). First Eagle's gold fund,
managed by Jean-Marie Eveillard, was the
largest private shareholder in the bank….
* * *
Reg Howe's complaint was filed a year before
the rash of corporate scandals that recently
have ravaged America. Yet look who shows up
among the primary characters in the BIS
charade, as cited in the Deminor press
release:
"The Hague assented to Deminor's arguments
contesting the valuation method adopted by
J.P Morgan (advisory bank) and by Arthur
Andersen (independent expert)."
Both Morgan and Andersen are up to their neck
in the Enron scandal, among many others.
Since Reg filed his suit, Andersen, that
esteemed accounting firm, has been disgraced
and put out of business, while Morgan
continues to be found out as a banking
scoundrel. Both Morgan and Andersen have now
been advised by the BIS arbitration panel
that they did the BIS's private shareholders
wrong.
What else is new with Morgan and Arthur
Andersen? AA is slowly becoming history.
Morgan is going to follow.
That Judge Lindsay did not let Reg have his
day in court is profoundly disturbing in
light of the ruling of the BIS arbitration
panel. It must have Thomas Jefferson stirring
in his grave, given GATA's well-documented
findings:
-- The U.S. financial markets are
manipulated. We do not have free markets.
While GATA suspects that many markets are
rigged, we have extensive proof that the gold
price is managed by a Gold Cartel.
-- There is no free press in America either
when it comes to financial matters. News
about GATA has been suppressed in the
mainstream U.S. financial press, even though
we have had extensive discussions with every
major U.S. financial press outlet. The phrase
"message discipline" comes to mind. The U.S.
financial press works under that
understanding of the political/banking world.
I consider them to be a disgrace to the
principles they supposedly uphold.
Now we find that an arbitration panel
convened by the BIS itself has ruled against
the bank when a U.S. court would not even
consider the same complaint.
What a great country America has become:
-- Rigged financial markets
-- No freedom of the financial press
-- A judiciary that will not tackle the big
banks and a deceitful government
Do not take GATA's findings lightly, gold fan
or no. While this started out as our quest to
expose the gold fraud and effect a free gold
market, GATA's journey is taking us into more
profound concerns:
Thomas Jefferson said:
"The end of democracy and the defeat of the
American Revolution will occur when
government falls into the hands of the
lending institutions and moneyed
incorporations."
"I believe that banking institutions are more
dangerous to our liberties than standing
armies. Already they have raised up a moneyed
aristocracy that has set the government at
defiance. The issuing power should be taken
from the banks and restored to the people, to
whom it properly belongs."
"If the American people ever allow private
banks to control the issue of their money,
first by inflation and then by deflation, the
banks and corporations that will grow up
around them will deprive the people of their
property until their children will wake up
homeless on the continent their fathers
conquered."
"Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to
the accidental opinion of the day; but a
series of oppressions, begun at a
distinguished period, and pursued unalterably
through every change of ministers too plainly
proves a deliberate, systematic plan of
reducing us to slavery."
That is exactly what GATA finds taking place.
The lending institutions and moneyed
incorporations like the Federal Reserve must
be stopped before they take America down. The
only way that is going to happen in the
short-term is to expose the gold fraud. It is
time that the U.S. Government and the bullion
banks be held to a standard that the entire
investment world is clamoring for: truth,
transparency, and accountability.
----------------------------------------------------
RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Free sites:
http://www.theminingweb.com/
http://www.gold-eagle.com/
http://www.kitco.com/
http://www.usagold.com/
http://www.GoldSeek.com/
http://www.goldenbar.com/
http://www.silver-investor.com
http://www.thebulliondesk.com/
http://www.sharelynx.net
http://www.mininglife.com/
http://www.financialsense.com
http://www.goldensextant.com
http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html
Subscription site:
http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/
Eagle Ranch discussion site:
http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm
----------------------------------------------------
COIN AND PRECIOUS METALS DEALERS
WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS
Centennial Precious Metals
3033 East 1st Ave.
Suite 403
Denver, Colorado 80206
www.USAGold.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
US (800) 869-5115
Canada 1-800-294-9462
European Union 00-800-2760-2760
Australia 0011-800-2760-2760
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
www.ColoradoGold.com
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkwa
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
http://www.gloomdoom.com
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
www.certifiedcoins.com
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Miles Frankl Ltd.
3601 Park Center Building
Suite 120
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
www.milesfranklin.com
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel
Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.buycoin.com
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----------------------------------------------------
HOW TO HELP GATA
If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please
consider making a financial contribution to
GATA. We welcome contributions as follows.
By check:
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA
By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:
http://www.gata.org/creditcard.html
By GoldMoney:
http://www.GoldMoney.com
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L
By Crowne-Gold:
http://www.Crowne-Gold.com
Holding: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
By E-Gold:
http://www.e-gold.com
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Account number 110915
Donors of $750 or more will, upon request,
be sent a print of Alain Despert's colorful
painting symbolizing our cause, titled "GATA."
GATA is a civil rights and educational
organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue
Code and contributions to it are tax-deductible
in the United States.
-END-
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
--- End Message ---
