Posted on 11/21/2007 10:19:48 PM PST by america4vr
The Dubai government, whose purchase of six American ports sparked a political furor, is poised to acquire substantial stakes in Citigroup and other New York-based banks mired in subprime mortgage debt.
Omar bin Sulaiman, the governor of the Dubai government's investment arm, DIFC Investments, is currently on a spending spree, spurred by the bargains that have resulted from the low value of the dollar and the sinking of the stock markets caused by the subprime mortgage crisis. Last year, Dubai caused a political storm in America when its Dubai Ports World company acquired six major American ports as part of its purchase of the British company P&O. Opposition to ownership by an Arab country of such sensitive properties at a time when America is waging a war against Islamist terrorists obliged Dubai to sell the port management companies to the American insurance company AIG amid anxieties about port security.
Dubai, a tiny country in the Persian Gulf with a matching small population, which is part of the United Arab Emirates, is cash-rich because of its vast natural reserves of oil.
Under its ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Dubai has aggressively begun to diversify its investments into tourism, construction, and finance and has concentrated upon acquiring blue-chip companies around the world. The sheik's aim is to make Dubai home to two of the world's 10 largest financial institutions within the next eight years.
The turmoil in the markets and the subprime mortgage mess has made large American financial institutions and banks vulnerable.
"There are good assets in the U.S., good opportunities for acquisitions to be identified," Mr. bin Sulaiman told reporters at the World Financial Centers Summit conference in Dubai. He said he was hoping to buy into American oil and gas interests, as well as telecommunications companies and
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Nah. It’s cool these guys are our friends.
... It’s not like they finance and support anyhting against our interests. Totally not a problem.
Face facts...alot of middle eastern oil giants have lots of cash...from the surge in profits from oil. They have to invest it somewhere...and its not going into Russia or South America. With the dollar so cheap...I think you will see dozens of deals like this over the next year. If you have dollars in your hand...you simply aren’t going to convert that to Euros or any other currency...with the situation like it is....so the US in someways...is intentionally attracting the Arabs to bring the oil money back into the US and invest it. I’m not going to say this is positive...but obviously...the money has to go somewhere.
Unless a country is on the list as being labelled "terrorist", how can they be blocked from buying into a free country?
IMO the banks need the influx of money. Unfortunately we have masterminded a situation where foreign nationals hold massive amounts of U.S. Dollars. With what ‘I consider’ a healthy economy, foreign nations wouldn’t be in this position. U.S. owned interests would.
What are we going to do as we continue to go down this road and China want’s to unload U.S. Dollars by purchasing assets like our banking institutions?
We are putting ourselves into a very precarious situation. We’ve known this day was coming since the early 1970s. We didn’t think it worthy of a Manhattan style effort to become energy independent. And around 1992, we decided it was a fantastic idea to become the worlds biggest debtor instead of the worlds biggest debt holder.
Well, here we are. We have now come to the place where half our energy has to be purchased from outside the United States, and our financial institutions will be owned by some of those players.
I somehow doubt the United States’ interests are going to be the first concern of foreign nations, but others who have gotten us into this mess are certain to find that a Jim Dandy idea.
As for Foreign-owned commercial banks, we are talking over a trillion dollars in assets. So in the game, it’s nothing new for a foreign entity (largely Europeans) to corner a bank.
The Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves.
When the sector is considered essential to national defense.
Somebody call Rush quick! Limbaugh needs to ride to the aid of his favorite A-rabs.
Dubai is saying: “All your homes are belong to us. We own banks. Banks hold mortgages. We own your homes. We own you.”
We should worry about any foreign nation becoming involved in our financial system. As for Dubai, I am more worried about the Chicoms than Dubai. Dubai is fairly enightened for a middle east nation.
Which of course is open to many interpretations.
I guess you'll have to open up a new branch of gov't which decides which companies are essential to national defense and which are not.
I don't know...there's so many agencies out there maybe one already exists.
Could it be one more step towards a One World government.
How will this affect the thinking of politicians who are willing to sell out their ethics to get Chinese money.
I am worried about America.
Something is dead wrong with all the dollars flowing into countries who would bring us to our knees at first opportunity.
Is America nothing more than a prostitute to these foreign money men.
Put me in the no column on this or any other deal.
We need to start drilling all over America and the sooner the better.
If the environmentalists don’t like it then to hell with them.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (”CFIUS”) seeks to serve U.S. investment policy through thorough reviews that protect national security while maintaining the credibility of our open investment policy and preserving the confidence of foreign investors here and of U.S. investors abroad that they will not be subject to retaliatory discrimination.
Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007
CFIUS MEMBERSHIP- The Committee shall be comprised of the following members or the designee of any such member:
The Secretary of the Treasury.
The Secretary of Homeland Security.
The Secretary of Commerce.
The Secretary of Defense.
The Secretary of State.
The Attorney General of the United States.
The Secretary of Energy.
The Secretary of Labor (nonvoting, ex officio).
The Director of National Intelligence (nonvoting, ex officio).
The heads of any other executive department, agency, or office, as the President determines appropriate, generally or on a case-by-case basis.
Bingo.
Get with the program. The bankers know what’s best for America. /s
You are one of the few Freepers I have ever seen that realize this.
Even American Banks realize this.
The Feds are aware of this. It is a dangerous situation. I have no clue what they would do about it.
It is a shame this is never discussed among the candidates. Hell, this subject never comes up.
No, we shouldn’t be worried because these guys are interested in making a buck, not killing the innocent.
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