Why aren't you on Facebook anymore?

Banking... Maybe? Maybe not?

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I've been banking since I was about 11 years old. I've known what a dog is since I was about two years old. Pretty basic right? I never felt like I needed to research any new developments relating to the basic understanding and/or operations of either banks or dogs. Boy was I wrong! Apparently, a lot of stuff has changed, and not for the better!

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Everyone heard about "bail-outs" during the stock crash and the banking fiascos around 2008 +/- a couple of years. Well, even though dogs didn't change, banks got weird. So, ALL of us bailed out fraudulent banks with our taxes. OK, so MOST of us bailed out fraudulent banks with our taxes, and lots and lots of people don't even pay taxes.

 

Well, I've heard of a new term I never heard of before. "Bail-ins" is what they call this new trick of stealing our money.

 

Now, instead of the government giving money to banks so they can stay in business and continue their fraudulent activities, and then charging us for that bail-out via our taxes, now, the banks can just steal our money if they think they're on the verge of going out of business. WHAT?

 

Sounds crazy huh? I checked out. It's true, and, it's even happened before. A few times. 

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"A bank can legally confiscate its clients' money in the event it needs to stay afloat, and most retail investors are not aware of this, said Lynette Zang, Chief Marketing Analyst at ITM Trading, who stressed that such legislation is already codified in the Dodd-Frank Act."

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The (linked) article (and many others) states that most of the general public doesn't even know about this situation. Isn't it weird that I never heard of this before? Have YOU? What is even worse is that they don't intend to tell us about this either!

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"They're laughing at us," she said. "[They're saying that] normal retail clients don't need to understand that there's really no money in the FDIC deposit insurance fund, and they should be expected to be bailed in."

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Now, how should we be expected to be "bailed in" when we don't even know about this, and that the banks don't even want to tell us this in the first place? Check this out...

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Zang pointed to Cyprus as an example of a "bail-in." In 2013, the Mediterranean country faced a banking crisis and sought help from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. As part of the bailout package, the EU and IMF insisted that Cyprus use depositors' funds to rescue banks; almost 7 percent of insured deposits, up to €100,000, were taxed. Withdrawals were also capped.

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"The normal person in Cyprus did not have access to their money until 2015, other than a little bit every day," said Zang. "The French and German banks got out [of the country] before the bail-in, leaving the average person, who is just about the right size to fail, in the system and bailing in their money."

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Concerned yet? This isn't all. I also found out about "The Right of Offset". What the heck is THAT? Well, it's a thing.

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"Generally, a bank may take money from your deposit account to make a payment on a separate debt that you owe to the bank, such as a car loan, if you are not paying that loan on time and the terms of your contract(s) with the bank allow it. This is called the right of offset."

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That mattress or that jar buried in the backyard is looking pretty good right about now, huh? While you're checking out the links read about what happened in Cyprus. When you're done, do a search on what happened to the customers of Silicon Valley Bank, and then what happened to other banking customers around the world. Want closer to home? Watch how the police stole a retired Marine's entire retirement nest egg even though he had receipts for every single dollar right HERE.

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How are we doing regarding these issues here in Alaska? Pretty sucky! (Franz Sigel Shroy copyright 2023)