What's up with those folks over at Wachovia (NYSE: WB)? It seems like they may have lost hold of the wheel. They've accidentally given up customers account balances to crooks. They have offered refuge to questionable funds. Now, it seems they've been sucked, with seven other banks, into a Federal investigation regarding the rigging of bids for government investment purchases. What has happened to the conservative Wachovia I used to know?
On May 20, Charles Duhigg had in The New York Times an excellent exposé regarding another nasty round of cyber crime. Wachovia was in no way at fault for the release of information leading to the account attacks, but its institution was one of many that apparently surrendered funds to criminals. I had always considered Wachovia to be an iron-clad safe institution. Someone must have missed a turn.
On May 21, Eric Hundman at the Foreign Policy Passport blog gave clarity to the North Korean demand that $25 million be released back into its hands after being frozen in Banco Delta Asia (BDA) in Macao, by Macanese authorities in 2005, following U.S. accusations of money laundering. The money is still questionably tainted but that's okay because North Korea has promised it'll only use it for the "betterment of the North Korean people". Why on earth would my Wachovia choose to act as intermediary for those funds? In my opinion, that would be an assignment better left to people who are in the habit of playing with grenades at the breakfast table!
As if that's not enough, I also encountered the update by William Selway at Bloomberg, which further pulls back the curtain on a Federal investigation into bid rigging that could potentially get mighty ugly. Bear Stearns Cos.(NYSE: BSC), UBS AG, Piper Jaffray Cos., Wachovia Corp. and four other banks have disclosed the fact that they've received subpoenas in regard to the investigation. There are some $400 billion worth of transactions being scrutinized and some ancillary transactions as well. I have yet to encounter a formal press release from Wachovia regarding the matter. Statements from the company which I have come across are typically obtuse.
I sure hope my Wachovia can get things back under control. (I told you to leave those bonds alone!)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-23-2007 @ 12:28PM
Dennis said...
RE: Fair Isaac is helping to predict your future based on your past......
Too bad the past only accounts for 35% of everybody's score............65% is based on BS black box "predictive variables" with no oversight on score "reliabilty"