Posted on 01/03/2011 8:10:39 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The next big Wikileaks doc drop is supposed to happen early this year. It's supposed to "bring down a bank or two." And that bank's supposed to be Bank of America.
A 3% drop in BofA's share price after everyone more or less decided that the bank in question is Brian Moynihan's was the catalyst for a team of executives taking action, according to the New York Times.
We already know that one of their methods was to buy up abusive domain names like brianmoynihansucks.com, and that they set up a so-called "SWAT team" to prepare their defenses.
And this is how they're preparing for the battle:
* Chief risk officer Bruce Thompson is heading up a team of 15 to 20 of the bank's top dogs that's undertaking a far-reaching internal probe of thousands of documents. They've hired consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton to aid the investigation, and have obviously spoken to several law firms about what might happen if Wikileaks docs reveal private information about their clients.
* CEO Brian Moynihan gets regular updates on the team’s progress.
* They're looking for missing computers because Assange has previously said he had 5 gigabytes of information (apparently enough to hold more than 200,000 pages of text) on BofA on a hard drive - one of the main reasons the public believes they are the target. So far they've found no evidence that Assange does have a hard drive.
* The bank thinks that what is more likely is that if anything, Wikileaks has documents on paper and discs it gave to the SEC during congressional investigation into BofA's acquisition of Merrill Lynch. They're also considering documents that could reveal embarrassing details about the Countrywide fiasco.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
RE: Well I hope BOA goes down..
Please, let’s not include the honorable BofAers with the bad.
*tsk*
I switched to a credit union, never been sorry. No more problems.
I'm now banking with a local bank that welcomed me with open arms, has none of the new onerous, punishing fees and fines that BOA instituted recently, will not charge me for the privilege of having a checking account with it like BOA wants to do, has nice special services for folks over 50....and I even get free checks in perpetuity, LOL.
BOA can go jump.
Leni
As a B of A Retiree after a succcessful 32 Year Career, I respectfully disagree with your hope for their demise.
I have no idea where this story is heading, but my experience is that the Bank’s Policies and Procedures over the years of my employment did not differ significantly from peer Banking Institutions.
We will see what we will see.
I just hope your local bank is financially stable. There have been hundreds of banks ( many local/regional ones ) that went under in the past 2 years.
Pretty mealy mouthed even for a bankster.
That is not what I said.
My post clarified that every Bank had to follow the same rules while the thread harped solely on Bank of America.
I retired back in 2004. The Corporation had very strict rules and guidelines in place as all Banks do. I was in Logistics, not part of the Finance Unit, but I dealt with that side of the Bank on a daily basis. You either followed Corporate wide guidelines in performing your fiduciary responsibilities or you did not work there. In fact, as a Bank Officer, I would bear personal responsibility for my actions including financial liability.
My point was that Bank of America, like any other large Financial Institution had to comply with every Government Regulation in place at the time. This crap about a lack of Banking Regulations is nothing but a Liberal Urban Myth.
If Management at Bank of America, or any other Company, violated the Law, they should face the consequences.
I am 57 years old and I have never been called “mealy mouthed” or accused of calling my peers in the Banking Industry crooks.
I await your apology.
Credit Unions do not pay taxes on their profits.
I guess that is OK if you think its OK not to pay the same taxes as everyone else.
Except when the owners switch from being a “mutual” bank to a public bank. And then they sell themselves for millions in their pockets.
I worked for one of those. I work with guys who were brought in specifically for that purpose. I worked for the big bank that bought the little banks afterwards. If you want to hear jerks, listen to the Senior level management of those small banks in the “merger” conference room after the sale. They couldn’t care less about their customers.
AMEN!
I only worked in banking for ten years, but I can attest to the regulations and strict guidelines.
The problem was not the bankers, but the folks that wrote the regulations.
Suppose that this was a football game. Supposed the adjusted the rules to allow defensive backs to use a 2x4 to hit the receiver running downfield. 99% of the backs would not use the lumber. But we all know that there would be one team that issued really nice, oak 2x4s. Something that would really do the job.
Before long, everyone would be using the 2x4s because they wanted to win.
Yes, it is horrible to hit a receiver with a 2x4, but its in the rules. So they are just playing by the rules. Are you blaming the defensive back? Are you blaming the coaches? Or the owners?
Or do you blame the guys that changed the rules?
•Taxation. Credit unions do pay taxes - payroll taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes. Congress exempts credit unions from federal income taxes.
The exemption was established in 1937, affirmed by statute in 1951, and re-affirmed in 1998 in H.R. 1151, the Credit Union Membership Access Act, which states:
Credit unions, unlike many other participants in the financial services market, are exempt from Federal and most State taxes because credit unions are member-owned, democratically operated, not-for- profit organizations generally managed by volunteer boards of directors and because they have the specified mission of meeting the credit and savings needs of consumers, especially persons of modest means.”
and that is legal, fair and in the interest of competition with the banks.
I’m all for it.
I am very familiar with the banking industry. I am also not stupid. There are countless local banks that are financially sound...and they can be checked out. They provide the competition to the mega-banks.....and they also provide much better service in many ways.
You can actually knock on a glass panel, wave and talk personally to the president or senior veep of the institution.
I feel more secure with my prosperous, small, conservative local bank than I did last week when I was banking with BOA.
It's not necessary to be pessimistic and distrusting of ALL local banks. Anecdotal evidence of a relatively minor national percentage of local banks being unresponsive to customers, greedy and going belly-up does not a whole industry make.
I like to keep the money in the community, also.
Leni
I was told very early in my banking career that “in the end there will be five BIG banks, and then your very, small local banks. The small banks will be fine to do your personal checking, but they could not provide the services that many businesses need.”
That was fifteen years ago, and I see it happening.
Checks in the mail pal LOL
I'm still waiting for your apology my FRiend. In case you didn't get it, which you obviously didn't, your retort to my original post was completely off the mark.
If you feel the need to post back another personal attack against me because of your misunderstanding of my original post, don't bother responding at all.
I expect a public apology from you, nothing more, nothing less. Thank you.
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