Kweku. He stole 2 billion dollars. The Bank that employed him lost 4 billion dollars of its market value. He was trying to follow the Swiss Frank before it was pegged to the Euro. For Kweku, a "honest" error; for the Swiss, a cultural blind spot. Their Clients would have moved their life saving to the Jewish usurers on the corner if they knew that those arrogant Swiss had Kweku investing their money.
13 comments:
Rouge traders are never rouge this story sounds like he took one for the team.
After Maddofs shenanigans am just glad he aint jewish
Too bad UBS is not an American Company
And too bad UBS is not a private US citizen
Because it would take them 666,666 years to write off the loss at $3,000 a year.....HAHAHA
The truth, if it ever comes out, is not going to be pleasant.
Did he,as you suggest, actually "steal" their money?
Was he exempt from oversight because he is black?
Is is conceivable anyone could rack up those kinds of losses without anyone else finding out?
Is he being paid to take the blame?
It takes someone of special talent to lose this amount on his own.
We await further details - ahem - "with interest".
Anon.
One has to laugh at UBS, the Swiss paid the Seagram smugglers 1B to keep Hevesi off their backs in the NY, only to lose 50 billions in 2008 - practically all they earned in the decade and more. It would have been better to have left NY. And now this; Singapore's GIC as a major shareholder has to start asking questions. It seems that there is a bifurcation in the international banking world, sober fellows counting pennies and cents in Asia and bullshit artists in the West.
Ivan
You may call it bifurcation, I call it decadence. For centuries, those Calvinist Swiss bankers were the most sober people on Earth. Today they lost it.
The Swiss have historically been a sensible people - they did not give women the vote till the 1970s. I see these shenanigans as part of the end cycle of the twilight of the experts.
Ivan
I'm a bit disappointed Tel Aviv hasn't emerged as a global financial center yet. Matter of time, J? Or are there structural problems preventing it?
-NYO
Mr Kweku will next be posted to Tel Aviv, to "take it to the next level".
Anon.
NYO - There are geopolitical impediments to Tel Aviv growing to an international financial center. It will take some time.
Mr Kweku has a standing job offer Tel Aviv financial district as janitorial vicepresident in charge of the shoeshine sector.
People will come to him for stock tips, as he skillfully steals their shoelaces.
He will become even more famous.
He has already whispered in Koko's ear that Mt Gibson Iron, trading on the ASX, is currently quite cheap.
Anon.
Mt Gibson seems one of those mythical shares recommended by Graham:
Market Cap ($M): 1,640
Equiv. Shares (M): 1,083
Old Street hands say that the time when shoeshine and elevator boys start giving stock tips, and good ones too, the crash is near.
I haven't seen a elevator boy in years. The last place I remember having an elevator operator was Tiffany's in NY and I think that must be gone too.
K
K,
It seems lately you are not frequenting expensive hotels. For 2500 dollars you could spend a night in DSK's New York hotel and have a uniformed lift boy pushing the bottons for you. There is a shoe polishing station in the lower toilette for men, all shining brass. I wonder if that African lady is still working there.
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