Brokerage Insurer Broke

Ante up, 'murkn; You gotta another bailout to fund....

Also see: Bush Bankrupted Pension Insurance Fund

"Brokerage insurance firm ailing; Upheavals of '08 leave $1.7b fund vulnerable" by Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | May 8, 2009

WASHINGTON - Until recently, the little-known Securities Investor Protection Corp. was flying high, confident its $1.7 billion fund was more than enough to insure investors against brokerage failures and fraud for years to come.

For a decade, the agency did not raise how much it charged brokerage companies for insurance: only $150 a year to insure every account for up to $500,000 whether it was Merrill Lynch, a small-time broker, or admitted Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff.

Then came the financial collapse of 2008, which included Madoff's $65 billion swindle. The cost of the claims in the Madoff case is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars - and could wipe out the fund's assets. SIPC officials, who for years have said the fund could withstand the most severe economic shocks, now acknowledge that it is in danger of dropping far below adequate levels.

Related: Madoff, Mossad and the AmeriKan MSM

The Boston Globe is a Mouthpiece For the Jewish Mafia

As a result, they have dramatically raised insurance rates on brokerage firms, increasing the annual fee from $150 to 0.25 percent of each brokerage's net operating revenues, which could cost millions of dollars a year at some firms. The agency, created by Congress but privately run, also has a $1 billion line of credit with the Treasury Department that it might have to tap for the first time in its history.

Oh, so it is its own little Fed is it?

And you are ALREADY PAYING for a BAILOUT with that billion-dollar line of credit, taxpayers -- to pay off Madoff's Jewish victims, can you believe it?

As a result, members of Congress including Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, are now questioning whether the agency is too beholden to the securities industry that pays its bills....

Look at fraud Frank here pretend like he just discovered fire.

Established in 1970 in the aftermath of a series of financial problems in the industry where some securities firms went bankrupt and were unable to pay back account holders, SIPC calls itself "the investor's first line of defense." But that defense is only available in select cases.

On Wednesday, for example, Stephen Harbeck, SIPC's president and CEO, met with a group of investors who purchased certificates of deposit from the Stanford Group, which has been accused by the government of massive fraud.

See: AmeriKan MSM Concealing Obama-Stanford Link

Harbeck said he told the investors they were not eligible for any payments even though some said they bought the certificates through a SIPC-backed brokerage.

Unlike the FDIC, which guarantees deposits in case a bank fails for any reason, SIPC says it only covers cases in which a brokerage firm fails to fulfill its duty as a "custodian" of a customer's account. That is why the SIPC does offer some coverage in the Madoff case - in which stock orders were never fulfilled and money was put into a Ponzi scheme - but not in the case where an investment was made and turned out to be worthless or depreciated.

But even in the Madoff case, the limited protection has stunned some investors. So far, only 51 Madoff claims have been approved, leading thousands of unpaid investors to question whether the agency is trying to limit its losses by unfairly denying payments....

I wouldn't doubt it; that's government and insurance companies for you.

The agency has also indicated that it will take a tough stance against customers who took out more money than they put into the Madoff fund. Such customers may have to return the excess funds under a legal procedure known as "clawback." Those funds might be redistributed to other investors according to how much each lost.

Representative Ron Klein, a Florida Democrat who also sits on the House Financial Services Committee, wrote a letter earlier this week to Harbeck in which he criticized the agency's effort to "clawback" the funds of some investors. Such a move would "unfairly penalize Madoff's victims," Klein wrote.

How? If they looted right with Madoff, they aren't a victim. This guy must be from the Palm Beach district because it sure looks like he's protecting the mob.

Harbeck responded that it would not be proper to let some investors keep "fictitious" profits.

Right, Bernie didn't really steal anything.

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Oh, yeah, about that pension fund insurer:

"Pension guarantor has $33.5b deficit" by Associated Press | May 20, 2009

WASHINGTON - The government agency that insures the pensions of 44 million Americans has amassed a record $33.5 billion deficit - triple what it was just six months ago.

The bleak financial snapshot, in a report obtained by The Associated Press, raises new fears that a federal bailout eventually will be needed for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. The beleaguered agency is being saddled with the underfunded pension plans of companies going bankrupt in the worst economic slump since the Great Depression.

But, but, but.... the busines pages tell me we are coming out of it!!!!! WTF?!!!

A rare midyear financial update requested by Congress shows the $11.1 billion deficit the agency posted at the end of its fiscal year on Sept. 30 has swelled by $22.5 billion to its highest level in the agency's 35-year history. The agency's acting director says, however, that the more than 640,000 people who currently receive its checks need not worry about the deficit, though longer-term action might be needed.

You know the drill, taxpayer: open wallet, hand over cash.

The agency does not insure 401(k) plans, but its fate is important not only to the workers covered by more than 29,000 employer-sponsored benefit pension plans but to all taxpayers who could be asked to foot the bill on a bailout if the agency ever becomes insolvent....

If ever? IT IS NOW!!!!! WTF is with the s*** journalism?

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Just wondering when you are going to get back something from your taxes other than wars and bank giveaways, 'murka.