Tuesday, January 27, 2009

UN crime chief says drug money flowed into banks

This story from Reuters will not surprise anyone who follows these things. But it is worth highlighting.

"The United Nations' crime and drug watchdog has indications that money made in illicit drug trade has been used to keep banks afloat in the global financial crisis, its head was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Vienna-based UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said in an interview released by Austrian weekly Profil that drug money often became the only available capital when the crisis spiralled out of control last year.

"In many instances, drug money is currently the only liquid investment capital," Costa was quoted as saying by Profil. "In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor."

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had found evidence that "interbank loans were funded by money that originated from drug trade and other illegal activities," Costa was quoted as saying. There were "signs that some banks were rescued in that way."

Profil said Costa declined to identify countries or banks which may have received drug money and gave no indication how much cash might be involved."

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=adVseEq8lUEI&refer=us

The Federal Reserve despite hard efforts has been unable to narrow the gap between the consumer’s borrowing cost and government’s interest rate. This is affecting both the government and the common people. It is also been seen as one of the delaying factors for economic recovery.
There is some good news, however - the Central Bank is getting all geared to buy the Treasury debt. If they do so, the mortgage rates and auto loans will again become affordable. What’s more, the borrowing costs will also reduce. The Central Bank is expected to start this buying soon. Let’s wait and watch how this benefits our country.

2:54 am  
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6:14 am  

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