The moment that defined the chaos of the 21st century: a financial atomic bomb exploded in the heart of the world’s banking system, sucking up the lifeblood of the global economy. The Treason Trilogy I: Casino Capitalism, Terror and Doom, 2011
Banks too big to go bust held nations to ransom. Trillions of dollars cascaded into bankers’ vaults. ibid.
Subprime mortgages blighted whole neighbourhoods, boarded up houses were vandalised, driving down the value of next-door properties. ibid.
The way we abuse each other in the scramble to monopolise the riches of Earth. ibid.
But we won’t be able to reform the laws if we allow corporations to compromise the democratic process by buying the privileges that put their profits above the interests of everyone else. ibid.
The world is out of control: a legacy of the West’s dirty secret. ibid.
Lives are shattered when people speculate in property. ibid.
And that charge of treason can be levelled against many governments in the twenty-first century. ibid.
Meltdown: A four-part investigation into the greed and recklessness that drove the world into financial collapse. Meltdown: The Secret History of the Financial Global Collapse I: The Men Who Crashed the World, CBC 2011
The crash of 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushed over 30 million people into unemployment, and brought many countries to the edge of insolvency. ibid.
Banks began making what were called subprime loans to people who could ill afford to pay back the money. ibid.
Greenspan was revered in Washington. ibid.
Banks and mortgage companies were indulging in all sorts of fraudulent practices. ibid.
Bankers went wild for these financial securities which were really just stacks of IOUs. ibid.
He [George Brown] called his approach the Light Touch. ibid.
Worried Northern Rock customers lined up to get their money out. ibid.
Rumours swept the financial world that Bear Stearns had liquidity problems. ibid.
The world financial system went into cardiac arrest. Meltdown: The Secret History of the Financial Global Collapse II: A Global Tsunami
The next crisis … The near-collapse of the world’s biggest insurance company AIG. ibid.
In the end they got the powers and the money but the signs of depressions started to appear anyway. ibid.
‘The biggest welfare cheque in history had been paid to Wall Street.’ ibid.
The orgy of greed and recklessness that drove the world into financial collapse. Meltdown: The Secret History of the Financial Global Collapse III: Paying the Price
The years since the 2008 collapse have been marked by demonstrations around the world … In some countries the struggle went much further. ibid.
The Caterpillar kidnapping incident made news around the world. ibid.
The big three US auto companies came to Washington to ask for a massive government bailout. Famously, they arrived in private corporate jets … Canada quickly followed suit. ibid.
After the fall: the Sheikh who pretends the crash never happened. The Wall Street king charged with fraud. The Congresswoman who wants to jail the bankers. And the world leaders who want a rethink about capitalism. Meltdown: The Secret History of the Financial Global Collapse IV: After the Fall
The search for the causes of the financial meltdown has led to some evidence of fraud and corruption. ibid.
Goldman Sachs eventually settled its fraud case by paying an unprecedented $550 fine. ibid.
In the end perception can matter more than the truth. The Last Days of Lehman Brothers, BBC 2009
Lehman Brothers: The market wasn’t appeased. There was a run on the bank. Everyone was dumping shares. Our rating was even downgraded. By Friday afternoon we were gasping for breath. ibid.
‘Is he kidding? I’m not going to go to the Fed and sit outside some goddamned boardroom while Paulson and my enemies decide my fate!’ ibid.
‘The West is fucked. We fucked it up. Oh not just you and me. All of us. The West. It’s done. It’s over.’ ibid. Hank Paulson
‘So the idea is we spin off another company – a bad bank – where we can place all of our toxic assets. And we’re gonna call is SpinCo.’ ibid. den of thieves
‘You were holding a pair of 8s, dick. And you bet the farm on the river card. The time came when you should have folded and you didn’t. Something in you told you to take the leap. You were remarkable. The blindness was exquisite. ibid.
‘The world has gone to hell in a handbasket. AIG is in the building. They’re haemorrhaging liquidity.’ ibid. Paulson to John the Barclays bloke
‘There is public money for a backstop. Have I said that before? We’re at the end. The deal [Barclays/Lehman] is dead.’ ibid. Paulson
In the shadow of the New York Stock Exchange, a walking tour starts: a two-hour stroll of sights and stories. But this isn’t about the normal city stuff. There’s no Statue of Liberty or Empire State building on this route: this is all about money. Sky News: History Repeating? Financial Crisis: 10 Years On, Sky 2018
By 2008 Lehmans was America’s fourth biggest investment bank. ibid.
Finance companies rushed to offer mortgages to just about anyone. ibid.
In a repeat of the subprime crisis: Is it possible that another storm has been brewing, this time based on the growing mountain of debt held by American companies and by the government? ibid.
The Sub-Prime Mortgage crisis has left millions of Americans struggling to stay in their homes and Wall Street is feeling their pain. The 2000s: The Platinum Age of Television VI, television news, Sky Arts 2019
The fact that a Wall Street firm [Bear Stearns] could lose 90% of its value in one weekend has some convinced the markets and the economy have far bigger to fall. ibid. Carl Quintanilla report 17 march 2008
I decided to act and act boldly. ibid. George Bush
In February 2013 I started an investigation into illicit money flow coming into the United States. The money was coming into high-end real estate and it was coming through companies where the owners could be hidden. I decided to focus on the Time Warner centre. Storyville: The PM, the Playboy and the Wolf of Wall Street, BBC 2019
Riza Aziz … was running Red Granite Pictures … Riza Aziz was the stepson of the prime minister of Malaysia, and friends with them all … In September 2014 I wanted to see if Jho and Majin would meet up in New York … The Story of 1MDB and the Money Trail … ‘He came up with this idea to set up this investment fund call 1MDB; the trust fund that brings returns for the future of the people.’ ibid.
‘Why was 1MDB not subject to the same oversight as the rest of the companies?’ ibid. Brother of Najib
It came to my attention 1MDB had raised bonds, public debt with Goldman Sachs. Debt that the people of Malaysia would have to pay back. ibid.
I knew that there were documents that were available for sale that purported to show details of money moving between 1MDB and Jho Low. ibid.
‘$700 million had been taken from the fund under the guise of being sent to a joint venture with a Saudi Arabian oil company.’ ibid.
The best and the most expensive party Las Vegas had ever seen … security, the foods, the drinks, the gifts, the stars, the celebrities – that must have cost $100 million. ibid.
‘A political slush fund.’ ibid.
On September 15th 2008 Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest investment bank in America, filed for the biggest bankruptcy in history. With $691,063,000,000 of debt, it triggered a global financial crisis. In the years leading up to the disaster,, several Lehman Brothers employees fought to prevent it. Storyville: Inside Lehman Brothers: The Whistleblowers, captions, BBC 2019
‘I was blacklisted from Wall Street … Lehman had a reputation on Wall Street as being cowboys. And their business practice a bit aggressive … I joined Lehman in 1994: I was vice-president. You were on your toes. You were watching your back. You had to do the best. There was just a certain vibrancy all the time. But I enjoyed that.’ ibid. whistleblower
‘Below that level, in middle management, there were a number of people who were greatly concerned, and believe that Lehman was putting itself at great risk, and that it could be a disaster.’ ibid. Anton Valukas, examiner, Lehman Brother bankruptcy