Le monde financier est et restera opaque

Parceque vous n’avez pas pu passer à côté de cette affaire : les banques vont encore devoir passer quelques provisions. Et la BNP semble particulièrement exposée !

Jean-Pierre Jouyet, qui prendra la tête de l’autorité française de régulation des marchés financiers lundi, a déclaré dimanche ignorer si des institutions françaises avaient été victimes de l’escroquerie montée aux Etats-Unis par l’ancien patron du Nasdaq, Bernard Madoff.

“Nous allons regarder quel est l’état des lieux, obtenir des informations des autorités américaines. Jusqu’à présent ce dossier relève des seules autorités américaines”, a-t-il estimé. “S’il y a des établissements français, ce que je ne sais pas, ils sont soumis aux réglementations américaines (…) Ils ont d’abord à répondre à la SEC”, a-t-il rappelé. La Sec est l’équivalent américain de l’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).

A la tête de l’AMF, a souligné Jean-Pierre Jouyet, “c’est une de mes missions premières de faire en sorte qu’au niveaux international et européen il y ait une nouvelle régulation du système (financier), que ce soit sur les agences notation, sur les hedge funds (fonds d’investissement à haut risque, NDLR), sur les paradis fiscaux (…), (pour) s’assurer qu’il y ait de la part des institutions financières un meilleur contrôle des risques, de façon à ce que les épargnants soient mieux protégés”. “On (la France) poussera là-dessus”, a-t-il assuré. AP

pourtant les américains eux ont l’aire bien au courant des banques touchées !

A suivre donc mais le monde financier n’avait pas besoin de ça pour augmenter sa côte de popularité.

From the NY Times: For Investors, Trust Lost, and Money Too

The zoning lawyer in Miami trusted him because his father had dealt profitably with him for decades. The officers of a little charity in Massachusetts respected him and relied on his advice.

Wealthy men like J. Ezra Merkin, the chairman of GMAC; Fred Wilpon, the principal owner of the New York Mets; and Norman Braman, who owned the Philadelphia Eagles, simply appreciated the steady returns he produced, regardless of market conditions.

But these clients of Bernard L. Madoff had this in common: They chose him to oversee much of their personal wealth.

And now, they fear, they have lost it.
…
For Stephen J. Helfman, a lawyer in Miami whose father had opened an account with Mr. Madoff more than 30 years ago, the news on Thursday came as a hammer blow.

“The name ‘Madoff’ has overnight gone from being revered to reviled in the Helfman family,” Mr. Helfman said on Friday. His grandmother, at 98, relied on her Madoff money to pay for round-the-clock care, he said, and his two children’s college funds were wiped out.
…
Mr. Merkin, a prominent philanthropist and the founder of several hedge funds, including one called Ascot Partners, jolted his clients on Thursday with a letter announcing that “substantially all” of that fund’s $1.8 billion in assets were invested with Mr. Madoff.

From The Independent: ‘Superwoman’ stung by hedge fund guru’s ‘$50bn trading scam’

In London, the most startling confession came from Nicola Horlick, probably the most famous British fund manager, known as Superwoman for balancing her high-flying finance career with bringing up five children. Her fund, Bramdean Alternatives, had almost 10 per cent of its assets – about £10m – invested with Mr Madoff, money Ms Horlick admitted yesterday she was “uncertain” she would ever see again. Bramdean shares lost a third of their value.

From the WSJ: Fund Fraud Hits Big Names

Giant French bank BNP Paribas, Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc. and Neue Privat Bank in Zurich are also exposed, according to people familiar with the matter.

And at least three funds of hedge funds — which raise money from investors and farm it out to hedge funds — may have significant losses. Fairfield Greenwich Group and Tremont Capital Management of New York placed hundreds of millions of their investors’ dollars into funds overseen by Mr. Madoff. On Friday, Maxam Capital Management LLC reported a combined loss of $280 million on funds they had invested with Mr. Madoff.

“I’m wiped out,” said Sandra Manzke, Maxam’s founder and chairman. The Darien, Conn., fund of hedge funds will have to close as a result of the losses, she said.