News, Rumors and Opinions Thursday Morning 9-24-2020
TNT:
Tishwash: Iraq announces exit from list of "high-risk" countries and increases oil exports 9/24
The State Department said it had successfully reactivated 169 Iraqi companies and institutions out of 230 entities banned by unsecurity council resolution 1518, which designated Iraq as a "high-risk" country, while seeking to lift the embargo on other entities.
"After meeting with a number of european counterparts, european union policy and security officials and other high-ranking figures, the foreign minister succeeded in winning their votes and supporting the lifting of Iraq from the list altogether very soon," ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahaf told the semi-official al-Sabah newspaper.
He added that the entities and institutions covered by the ban extend their work to various sectors such as investment, economy, industry and other sectors, stressing that lifting the embargo will add support to the domestic economy and facilitate their cooperation with the government.
Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein sent a letter to his counterparts in EU countries, in which he was surprised that Iraq was included in the list of high-risk countries in the field of money laundering and terrorist financing.
Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar also revealed an agreement with opec and OPEC to increase Iraqi oil exports, noting that the opec reduction agreement will continue until the end of 2021.
Abdul Jabbar said that the rise in crude oil prices and the repercussions of the Corona pandemic on the world, will cast a shadow on the future of future decisions by the members of the organization, pointing out that negotiations are continuing, and there is openness with everyone to the maturation of decisions that contribute to the recovery of oil prices globally.
With regard to the fields shared with Iran and Kuwait, Abdul Jabbar revealed the existence of a consulting firm working on plans and factors for the joint operation of fields between Iraq and Kuwait, while the fields shared with Iran, there are dialogues with the Iranian side to agree on final and fixed formulas for the operation of those fields, and the Ministry is working to develop the capabilities of its companies in Basra and Maysan with the aim of accelerating the investment process in the joint fields.
Abdul Jabbar said his ministry is working to complete these projects until 2025, and we will increase gas production to large quantities of 2,500 to 3,000 million cubic feet of gas, pointing out that all gas projects are either currently under way or in the process of being referred or under preparation for the project tinder. link
Courtesy of Dinar Guru
Frank26 ...the new Central Bank Governor of Iraq, he's not waiting any time is he? He is direct implementation. There is no delay. It's also very interesting how much of a hurry this new governor of the CBI is in. As much of a hurry as Kazemi. Kazemi gave the new CBI governor Mustafa the authority of the white papers...
Pimpy This is a pretty big time for us. It's close to the end of the month. Remember the reform papers are supposed to be submitted by the end of this month. The 2020 budget was supposed to have already been voted on. The 2021 budget is coming. Now the anticipation is that we are going to hear something about the Iraqi dinar rate in the reform papers. There's no guarantee. We just know that it's going to be discussed...we know the Minister of Finance has said in the reform papers there is discussions about the Iraqi rate and what that might be...
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JPMorgan to pay almost $1 billion fine to resolve US investigation into trading practices
Published Wed, Sep 23 2020
JPMorgan Chase is close to paying almost $1 billion to resolve government investigations into the alleged manipulation of metal and Treasuries markets, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
A settlement between New York-based JPMorgan and several U.S. agencies could come as soon as this week, according to Bloomberg, which first reported news of the fine. The deal would resolve probes from the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A penalty of that size would be a record for spoofing, which is when sophisticated traders flood markets with orders that they have no intention of actually executing. The practice was banned after the 2008 financial crisis and regulators have made it a priority to stamp out.
While JPMorgan may be forced to admit wrongdoing in the settlement, the deal isn’t expected to result in business restrictions on other areas of the firm, said the person, who declined to be identified speaking about government probes. Spokespersons for the bank and the DOJ declined to comment.
The case was revealed in September 2019 when a 14-count criminal indictment against three current or former JPMorgan employees, including the global head of base and precious metals trading, was unsealed.
The indictment alleges the traders, along with eight unnamed co-conspirators who worked at JPMorgan offices in New York, London and Singapore, participated in a racketeering conspiracy in connection with a multiyear scheme to manipulate the precious metals markets and defraud customers.
Named in the indictment were Michael Nowak, a former managing director who also heads the firm’s global precious metals desk, along with Gregg Smith and Christopher Jordan, who both held the title of executive director and were traders on the firm’s precious metals desk.
They each were charged with one count of conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, which historically has been used in mafia prosecutions, as well as other federal crimes in connection with manipulating precious metals futures markets.
Nowak and several others in the case pleaded not guilty and seek dismissal of the charges, while others have cooperated with the authorities.
100% TRUE: THEY RIG METALS, WHILE FINANCING DRUG CARTELS, TERRORISTS & MOBSTERS!!
SGTreport: Sep 23, 2020
Bob Kudla joins me to discuss JP Morgan's billion dollar fine and the fact that the largest western banks not only rig the precious metals market, the finance drug cartels, terrorists and mobsters -- on the record!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkxeiteHnZY