Saudi Arabia’s crown prince could turn to Credit Suisse next

Saudis are among a number of SWFs intrigued by recent shareholder developments at Swiss bank

For those who had not been paying attention to the rise of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his recent dramatic detention of fellow princes and other senior figures over corruption allegations came out of the blue.

But amid some pretty tough competition for the world’s attention — a quasi-coup in Zimbabwe, more Brexit tumult — he has kept up the momentum ever since. On Thursday it emerged that the Saudi authorities were seeking vast sums — up to $300bn — in exchange for dropping charges relating to the alleged $100bn corruption racket.

It is against that background that two people close to the situation confirm the existence of deepening but secret talks between the Saudi government and the Swiss banking sector. Precise information about the whys and wherefores is scant. But there are several plausible reasons for the contact.

The most obvious relates directly to the corruption probe. As Prince Mohammed, or MbS as he is widely known, consolidates his power base, he is keen to ensure those he seeks to weaken cannot skirt his crackdown through offshore routes. If MbS is indeed asking the Swiss banks for information on Saudi clients, it is far from certain that the pitch could succeed.

SOURCE: finews.com

Did Hillary Clinton Trip Over Her Ties to Banks?
Wednesday, 9 November 2016

The financial establishment banked on a Hillary Clinton victory. Her close ties to Wall Street may have come back to haunt her – one Swiss bank in particular was in focus.

Donald Trump’s victory is an unpleasant surprise for Wall Street, which had factored in the political status quo continuing under Hillary Clinton – a bet which went horribly wrong.

On the contrary, Hillary Clinton’s long and close relationship with Wall Street has come back to bite, which ultimately benefited the populist Trump.

Clinton’s relationship to one Swiss bank in particular stands out: UBS. The ties deepened considerably in 2009, when UBS faced a criminal investigation which threatened its very existence.

Clinton met with the Swiss foreign secretary at the time, Micheline Calmy-Rey, who impressed upon her U.S. counterpart that UBS would near-certain death by criminal charges if the bank didn’t hand over client data, which Swiss law prohibits.

UBS Relief

Several months later, Clinton’s intervention proved successful: the Swiss bank settled the investigation by handing over thousands of customer files, admitting wrong-doing, and paying a $780 million fine.

What Clinton, a former New York state Senator who is acutely aware of Wall Street’s importance to the U.S. economy, and her Swiss counterpart discussed isn’t known, but it was only one chapter in a long-standing relationship with UBS.

What is clear is that UBS began upping donations to a Clinton family charitable foundation, which were less than $60,000 through 2008, to a total of roughly $600,000 by the end of 2014, according to reporting by «The Wall Street Journal».

UBS’ Clinton Program Loan

The bank also lent $32 million through a program to promote entrepreneurship and inner-city loans, and paid former president Bill Clinton $1.5 million for question-and-answer sessions with former UBS brokerage head Bob McCann.

UBS didn’t comment on the charitable donations or speeches, which aren’t uncommon for former presidents. What is unusual is the high degree of overlap between the Clintons’ political and personal activities, which has hobbled Clinton’s efforts and put her judgement into question.

The timing of corporate donations, like a $900,000 one from Boeing, to the Clintons’ foundation shortly after the aviation firm won a key contract from Russia with then secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s help is also questionable.

Missteps like these have led to her being viewed as America’s corporate darling and less a champion of the vanishing middle class, the «New York Observer», which is published by Trump’s son-in-law, has pointed out.

Clinton and Wall Street

Hillary Clinton’s cozying up to Wall Street in general isn’t new: she was roundly criticized for paid behind-the-scenes remarks to Goldman Sachs bankers which appeared to sympathize with the financial services industry over regulation, a bugbear for banks since the financial crisis of 2008-09.

For UBS’ part, it has also maintained close ties to Clinton indirectly as well as directly. Teneo, a firm co-founded by a former close associate to Bill Clinton, has long been a communications advisor to the Swiss bank. Teneo, which arranged the Bill Clinton-Bob McCann appearance, employed various close Clinton associates such as Huma Abedin and even the former president himself as honorary chairman for a time, according to «Politico».

Former UBS banker Robert Wolf presents another long-time tie between the Clintons and the Swiss bank. Wolf is a prominent Obama fundraiser who told «The Hill» he wouldn’t do much fundraising for Clinton – because she already enjoys the trust of Wall Street and the business community.

This is undoubtedly true for at least one major Swiss bank, and may have wreaked vengeance on Nov. 8.

What Donald forgot about banks would fill a book.

The legend on Wall Street was that he was so trustworthy, banks lent him mucho money.....so much so that the banks were actually in business with Donald.

If he went down, they went down. In one case, the bank demanded Donald sign over 50% of one of his casinos to the bank.....which he did.

In the recent book about the Hiltons, Barron Hilton (Paris’ grandfather) had sunk 350 million into a hotel in A/C......but could not get a gaming license.

Donald stepped up....told Barron he would buy the hotel ....CASH...sight unseen. A NYC bank lent Donald the money immediately.

Donald’s son with Melania is named Barron....b/c Donald so admired the Hiltons.

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