"Steady hand on holdings of ex-governor" January 30, 2012|Todd Wallack, Globe Staff
R. Bradford Malt is best known in legal circles as the chairman of Boston’s largest law firm, Ropes & Gray LLP. But last week, Malt burst into the national spotlight as the trustee responsible for overseeing Mitt Romney’s vast fortune and making controversial decisions to invest some of it in a Swiss bank account and funds based in exotic locales like the Cayman Islands.
Good places to avoid paying taxes, or so I've read.
Since then, the corporate attorney has spent marathon days explaining the intricacies of Romney’s holdings to reporters across the country, and seen his defense of the Swiss account turned into a Democratic attack ad on YouTube....
Malt, a lanky 57-year-old with a penchant for pulling office pranks, has been at Romney’s side at pivotal moments in his career for the past two decades - whether it was saving Romney’s old consulting firm from bankruptcy, helping him stay on the state election ballot in 2002, or defending his investments in his current run for president. Malt has made investment decisions for Romney since 2003, when Romney became governor and put his money into a blind trust to avoid conflicts of interest.
It’s a job that requires Malt to look out for Romney’s political as well as financial well-being.
In 2007, as Romney prepared his first run for president, Malt sold stock in dozens of potentially controversial companies, including casino operators, tobacco growers, and firms with ties to Iran. Last year, after Romney pushed for tougher trade sanctions against China, Malt dumped a number of Chinese holdings. He recently shed a money market mutual fund that had invested in government-backed mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are blamed for exacerbating the housing bust.
Related: The House That George Romney Built
His dad is the one that came up with the mortgage-backed security idea that Wall Street used to destroy the world economy?
Also related: Mitt Romney Profited From Mortgage Lenders Foreclosing On Thousands Of Floridians
And yet they voted for him anyway(?).
In early 2010, as Romney advanced toward a second presidential campaign, Malt decided to close the $3 million UBS account he set up in Switzerland seven years earlier, realizing it could become a political issue. In 2009, the US government sued UBS to obtain the names of thousands of Americans who secretly held billions of dollars in Swiss accounts.
Malt said he opened the Swiss account not to hide assets, but to diversify Romney’s investments into foreign currencies.
Can you pass me that salt shaker so I can take a grain.
If the value of the dollar declined, for example, a rise in the Swiss franc might offset it.
Gee, that has in fact happened because Bernanke needed to print money to buyback all the fraudulent mortgage-backed securities, and I have a problem with a presidential candidate bailing on the buck.
The account, Malt stressed, was listed on Romney’s 2010 tax return and Romney paid taxes on the interest, just as he pays taxes on all the earnings from other foreign investments.
“It’s actually kind of crazy,’’ Malt said of the controversy. “This is a fully legitimate, fully reported account that pays every penny of taxes.’’
Defending offshore accounts wasn’t exactly the way Malt envisioned his legal career....
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Related: Romney paid just 10.7% in 2010 taxes, lawyer estimates
Un-flipping-real!
FLASHBACKS:
"Romney reveals his income tax burden: about 15%" January 18, 2012|By Matt Viser, Globe Staff
FLORENCE, S.C. - Mitt Romney said yesterday that he has been paying close to a 15 percent tax rate on his income in recent years, a rate that is lower than what many Americans pay and one that fueled further attempts by his Republican rivals to cast the former Massachusetts governor - the wealthiest candidate in the race - as out of touch.
With just four days left before the primary in South Carolina, which is beset by high unemployment and typically ranks among the nation’s poorest states, Romney faced intensifying scrutiny of his wealth, how he earned it, and how he talks about it.
He also is being placed at the center of a national debate over taxes and wealth that is likely to escalate as the campaign marches closer to the general election. The battle has been highlighted by the Occupy Wall Street movement, as well as by business magnate Warren Buffett, who has argued that, as a billionaire, he should not be taxed at a lower rate than his secretary....
“I get speaker’s fees from time to time, but not very much,’’ he added.
According to his most recent financial disclosure statement, he earned nearly $375,000 for nine speaking engagements from February 2010 to February 2011. The fees ranged from $11,475 to $68,000. Those statements also show his assets total $190 million to $250 million....
He REALLY IS A PSYCHOPATHIC CORPORATE PUKE!
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And he is HIDING ASSETS OFFSHORE?
"Heat rises as S.C. vote nears; Gingrich gaining in poll, Romney steps up attacks" by Matt Viser | Globe Staff, January 18, 2012
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Last night, ABC News reported Romney is storing a portion of his fortune in offshore accounts.
Romney has as much as $8 million invested in at least 12 funds listed on a Cayman Islands registry, according to the ABC report. He also has an investment valued at between $5 million and $25 million that securities records list as having been housed offshore in the Caymans, which is notorious as a tax haven....
A Romney spokeswoman disputed the ABC report and said the candidate was paying the same amount of US taxes on the offshore accounts. His campaign also said his money is held in a blind trust that he does not control....
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Related: Romney's 'Blind Trust' Was Not Very Blind