Libya-Owned Bank Drew at Least $5 Billion From Fed

[ProSense]

Source: Bloomberg

Arab Banking Corp., a lender part- owned by the Central Bank of Libya, used a branch in New York to borrow at least $5 billion from the U.S. Federal Reserve as credit markets seized up in 2008 and 2009.

The bank, then 29 percent-owned by the Libyan state, drew $1.1 billion from the Fed’s so-called discount window in October 2008, including $450 million during the week when hundreds of financial firms drew a record amount of emergency funding from the U.S lending program, according to data released by the Fed today. Arab Banking Corp. also owed about $4 billion to the Fed under other bailout programs in the fall of 2009, data released in December show.

The U.S. government has since frozen assets linked to the regime of Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi and engaged in air strikes against his military forces as they battle a rebel uprising in the North African country. Arab Banking Corp. received an exemption that allows the firm to continue operating while prohibiting it from engaging in any transactions with the government of Libya, according to the Treasury Department.

Libya’s stake in Manama, Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corp. increased to 59 percent in December 2010, the company said on Dec. 2.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-31/libya-owned-arab-banking-corp-drew-at-least-5-billion-from-fed-in-crisis.html

[lovuian]

1. what is our Fed doing giving our money to bailout

foreign banks????

[northoftheborder]

2. Ditto????

[Wilms]

3. Are the "domestic" banks really that different from the "foriegn" ones?

It's a class war. And people like us are considered either the enemy, or collateral damage.

[ThomCat]

4. You just now heard about this?

It wasn't kept very secret at the time that foreign owned banks were getting a lot of the money. :(

That was one of the many complaints people had with the way the so-called recovery was handled.

But the complaints largely got drowned out by people who insisted that we had to wait and see how wonderful it would all turn out to be because we simply weren't allowed to have any negative opinions on anything until after Obama had been in office a full year, and then 2 years, and then at least a full term, etc...

[lovuian]

7. No I have heard of this and Obama administration was

involved in the handling of the Bailout money

so I can understand why Bloomberg wanted to know the list and sued
right here is a obvious stealing and abuse of American money

[ProgressIn2008]

5. I know. WTH?

[Zorra]

17. Nothing is "ours" anymore. We are no longer a sovereign state. Think multi-national.

Trans-national.

As in multi-national corporations. Trans-national corporations.

Just say no to the WTO.

[sabrina 1]

6. How many other foreign banks did the Fed bail out?

Shameful, and now they are trying to make the American people pay for their gambling debts.

We need a list of all foreign banks bailed out by the Feds and when do we start prosecutions in this country?

We don't have time to devote to Libya or anywhere else, this country needs attention and the criminals who brought it down economically need to be investigated and prosecuted for what they did.

Amazing, we can bail out foreign banks, but not U.S. homeowners!

[Arctic Dave]

8. I believe it was penance(?) for enabling our criminals on Wall Street to

ruin the world economy.

Can you believe they almost lost their bonuses? The nerve of us peons.

[IScreamSundays]

9. Libya-Owned Bank Drew at Least $5 Billion From Fed

Source: Bloomberg

Arab Banking Corp., the lender part- owned by the Central Bank of Libya, used a New York branch to get 73 loans from the U.S. Federal Reserve in the 18 months after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed.

The bank, then 29 percent-owned by the Libyan state, had aggregate borrowings in that period of $35 billion -- while the largest single loan amount outstanding was $1.2 billion in July 2009, according to Fed data released yesterday. In October 2008, when lending to financial institutions by the central bank’s so- called discount window peaked at $111 billion, Arab Banking took repeated loans totaling more than $2 billion.

Fed officials say all the discount window loans made during the worst financial crisis since the 1930s have been repaid with interest.

The U.S. government has since frozen assets linked to the regime of Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi and engaged in air strikes against his military forces, which are battling a rebel uprising in the North African country. Arab Banking got an exemption that allows the firm to continue operating while barring it from engaging in any transactions with the Libyan government, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-31/libya-owned-arab-banking-corp-drew-at-least-5-billion-from-fed-in-crisis.html

[davidthegnome]

10. Disturbing

That's a great deal of money.

[freshwest]

11. This may be nuts but it reminds me of a story I ran across a while back.

Sorry, but these two links may seem crazy. I think Wikileaks was involved too, but not certain. Other sources for this story, may all be conspiracy, but this one seems progressive. Take it as you will:

The Wall Street Pentagon Papers: Biggest Scam In World History Exposed: Are The Federal Reserve’s Crimes Too Big To Comprehend

http://agonist.org/incomprehensible

More of this weirdness, but straight to the point of the OP, although it may be teagagger material:

GLOBALIST'S TARGET: Central Bank of Libya - it's 100% State Owned. By Eric V. Encina
Thursday, 31 March 2011 17:55

One seldom mentioned fact by western politicians and media pundits: the Central Bank of Libya is 100% State Owned. The world’s globalist financiers and market manipulators do not like it and would continue to their on-going effort to dethrone Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi, bringing an end to Libya as independent nation.

http://www.freestatevoice.com.au/

Neither of those are as reliable as the Bloomberg OP and I'm just sharing it to see if makes any sense to anyone. The problem with the Libya thing is that it's such a hotbutton matter, that the story can be used for political gain.

A much more conventional source on the money involved, and it's talking about a lot more than $5 billion:

Libya's Billions Invested In U.S. Private Equity, Big Banks

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/01/libya-investment-portfolio-us-banks-equity_n_829964.html

So, what's it all about, really? We had a thread last week reporting that Gaddafi was sitting on a few tons of gold. Is this our money that we're suffering to pay to... whatever or whoever it is?

I know the adage about following the money, but when they discuss things this high up, it always eludes me, it's not my world. We almost have to take what the church, scientists, media and the governments and institutions say on faith in some ways, because we aren't privy to what they know.

And don't shoot me, I'm just the googler.

[stockholmer]

13. +1, you are entering the shadow-world where the money trail (aka the truth) is found

[freshwest]

14. Huffpo had a link at the bottom of that page what put things in that creepy zone.

All those creepy dictators that never pay for their atrocities, which leads us to the issue of sovereign wealth. That realm works above all the countries and governments, and is the reason everything appears to be so crazy or accidental to us peons...

But it's not at all accidental, really. And it's hard to accept, although I knew that saying, 'Since I gave up all all hope, I feel much better.'

Got to get down to it. Too bad so much of us were not taught anything that could help us navigate this maze when the going gets gruesome. Or grotesque, as the case may be.

:hi:

[stockholmer]

12. ABC is based in Bahrain, where the US stands by as hundreds of protesters are slaughtered, by the

thug puppet Al Khalifa royal family and the Saudis (with US-built and sold weapons and tanks), whilst in Libya, the 'war' is on. Hello hypocrisy.

Arab Banking Corp is also part of the indirect Anglo-American banking empire, in this case the link being the UK branch of the Rothschilds. The convergent timing of Ghaddafi balking at further BP advances into their oil holdings, his signing of massive new infrastructure deals with Russia and China, the formation of AFRICOM by the US Dept of Defense, and the initiation of North African operations by Xe (Blackwater) etc all add up to one big pile of pre-planned black-ops.



per Wikileaks:


http://91.214.23.156/cablegate/wire.php?id=08TRIPOLI126&search=

UNCLAS TRIPOLI 000126

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG; COMMERCE FOR NATE MASON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS:
SUBJECT: WAHDA BANK PRIVATIZATION BID WON BY JORDAN-BASED ARAB BANK

REF: 07 TRIPOLI 885

1.(SBU) In a move that adds momentum to Libya"s promising banking reform efforts, the Libyan Central Bank announced that the Jordan-based Arab Bank won the tendering process to buy 19 percent of Libya"s Wahda Bank. According to press reports, Arab Bank"s winning bid of 210 million euros ($310 million) easily outstripped the second highest bid of 121 million euros ($180 million) by Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation. Other short-listed bidders falling short of the mark were Morocco"s Attijariwafa Bank, Italy"s Intesa Sanpaolo. and French bank Societe Generale (Note: Societe Generale announced its withdrawal from the competition on February 12 for undisclosed reasons; Econoff subsequently learned the bank was uncomfortable with elements of the shareholding agreement. End Note). According to a fact sheet issued by Libya"s Central Bank, Wahda Bank is the country"s second largest commercial bank in terms of total loan portfolio, with a market share of over 20%. It is the fifth largest commercial bank in terms of total assets, with 1.7 billion euros ($2.6 billion) and 71 branches throughout the country.

2.(SBU) The shares obtained by Arab Bank were previously owned by the Libyan Economic and Social Development Fund (ESDF), which held 73 percent of Wahda before the sale. With this sale, the ESDF still has a majority stake of 54 percent, but Arab Bank will assume management control of Wahda. The remaining Wahda shares are currently held by the Libyan Central Bank (14 percent) and a collection of Libyan investors and companies (13 percent). Under the terms of its purchase, Arab Bank will have the right to eventually raise its stake in Wahda Bank to 51 percent over the next three to five years.

3.(SBU) Comment: This sale marks the second successful privatization of a Libyan commercial bank, following a similar deal struck with France"s BNP Paribas in its purchase of a 19 percent stake in Sahara Bank in September 2007 (reftel). The Central Bank continues to draw on foreign expertise for pushing through its banking reform strategy, with McKinsey and Company (strategic advisor), Rothschild (financial advisor), Baker and McKenzie (legal) and KPMG (accountants) all playing substantial roles. With the privatizations of Wahda and Sahara well in hand, the next target for the Central Bank will be solidifying its December 2007 merger of the state-owned Jamahiriya and Umma Banks into a single entity, the Libyan Bank. End comment.
STEVENS 0 02/18/2008

[freshwest]

15. Yeah, I posted a lot on Wikileaks elsewhere. It brings out the red meat from all sides.

It's just information, raw data for the most part. But it's sure got a lot of governments and corporations calling for blood.

The way that we have been so inconsistent for so long, may be a post WW2 phenonemon, but possibly all along. As MLK said, and I'm paraphasing, but pretty close:

'America is not a place, but an ideal.'

We've had some great ideals. We're just not using them. We're not even following the oldest advice to mind our own business.

Thanks for the information.

[IScreamSundays]

16. Libya-Owned Bank Drew at Least $5 Billion From Fed

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