Fraud* According to the Collins English Dictionary 10th Edition fraud can be defined as: "deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage".[1] In the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation. Defrauding people or entities of money or valuables is a common purpose of fraud, but there have also been fraudulent "discoveries", e.g. in science, to gain prestige rather than immediate monetary gain *As defined in Wikipedia
Jonathan Weil of Bloomberg made some observations a few weeks back about last year's FASB change, which suspended "mark-to-market" accounting for banks. He notes that in early 2009, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle was the "poster child for everything supposedly wrong with mark-to-market accounting." While mark-to-market rules had forced the bank to write down its portfolio of mortgage backed securities by $304 million, the bank's executives said they expected to lose only $12 million on these loans. At a March 12, 2009 congressional hearing, this disparity was presented as a "disturbing" example of the problem with mark-to-market. Paul Kanjorski pointed to a similar "absurd" example that "fails to reflect economic reality", where the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta was forced to report an $87 million mark-to-market writedown on a portfolio the bank expected to generate losses of only $44,000. In response to this pressure, the FASB ultimately caved. Unfortunately, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle now says it expects $311 million of credit losses on its portfolio, while the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta has raised its credit loss estimate to $263 million - both even worse than the original mark-to-market indications. The Seattle FHLB has filed lawsuits against Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, among others, seeking refunds for mortgage-backed securities they underwrote.
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Jonathan Weil of Bloomberg made some observations a few weeks back about last year's FASB change, which suspended "mark-to-market" accounting for banks. He notes that in early 2009, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle was the "poster child for everything supposedly wrong with mark-to-market accounting." While mark-to-market rules had forced the bank to write down its portfolio of mortgage backed securities by $304 million, the bank's executives said they expected to lose only $12 million on these loans. At a March 12, 2009 congressional hearing, this disparity was presented as a "disturbing" example of the problem with mark-to-market. Paul Kanjorski pointed to a similar "absurd" example that "fails to reflect economic reality", where the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta was forced to report an $87 million mark-to-market writedown on a portfolio the bank expected to generate losses of only $44,000. In response to this pressure, the FASB ultimately caved. Unfortunately, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle now says it expects $311 million of credit losses on its portfolio, while the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta has raised its credit loss estimate to $263 million - both even worse than the original mark-to-market indications. The Seattle FHLB has filed lawsuits against Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, among others, seeking refunds for mortgage-backed securities they underwrote.
http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc100503.htm
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http://tinyurl.com/2cf9g64
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JR
Goldman subpoenaed:
http://tinyurl.com/37hw75p
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http://tinyurl.com/2ezprwa
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