When I blame the media for misleading the public, it’s not simply scapegoating bs. The stuff being written isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on half the time. Take for instance a September 2007 article in IndUS Business Journal:
Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank is a partnership between San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. and London-based HSBC Holdings Plc, one of the largest banking groups in the world. The two banks operate more than 10,000 offices in over 80 countries and territories.
No mention of China or Hong Kong, though they did repeat the standard script of how many countries the banks jointly service. No author was credited.
It just doesn’t sound right, does it? London is where HSBC is now headquartered, but that’s no reason to leave out the fact that it remains the major bank in China. I like to know that sort of shit personally.
But anyway, this illustrates just one way that people become confused by what’s being reported in the mainstream media. It may not be a bold-faced lie, but it’s a deceptive practice nevertheless. That’s why I gave up on most newspapers and refused to renew the cable subscription yet again. It’s rarely news-worthy stuff being reported, and when it is, the story is too often slanted with pertinent details left out. Who does that generally favor, do you figure?
We’re receiving less and less honest information, partly due to so many of us being over-stimulated by technology and entertainment options that we became spoiled and don’t take time to look. We’re not demanding integrity in journalism these days (in spite of all the talk about protecting our First Amendment rights). Also partly because we’re the consumers everybody’s vying for attention and money from or wanting to extend credit to. This has put us Americans in a precarious position, for certain.
It’s tough thinking about what may potentially be hidden out of sight because uncovering the truth threatens to rain on our American parade. It would screw us up like no other if we all suddenly came to terms with what’s been going on here for the last 60+ years, plenty of which has been intentionally obscured from the general public’s view. A vocal few have spoken out about our societal ills (like Ralph Nader, Norman Finkelstein, Cynthia McKinney, Naomi Klein, etc.), but most just don’t care to hear it. To search for truth is to eventually come to realize we’re set in motion down an unsustainable path and must change our ways or suffer grave consequences. Likely it will hurt either way we go at this point though. People don’t want to hear this after living it up in a globally-elite nation the last 20 years because it suggests sacrifices to our standard of living will be necessary. Our collective perception of American power reaching such an unprecedented apex changed people and warped many of our values. I do believe that’s true.
Returning to HSBC and Wells Fargo, the last article above was about:
Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank has loaned a total of $28 million to two U.S. companies that are producing environmental benefits in Panama and India.
That’s an awful lot of money to be loaning businesses right before the economy took a dive.
MyWire.com posted an article from 2005 where the opening of the Chicago office was announced. A portion reads:
The addition of a Chicago office makes a total of 12 for the joint venture combining Wells Fargo’s breadth of financial services with HSBC’s extensive network of international locations. The Trade Bank delivers financing solutions and payments expertise to middle market companies engaged in international trade and is the only nationally chartered bank exclusively dedicated to this purpose. “We understand this vital market, and we’re seeing a definite growth in the need for our import-export expertise in Chicago and throughout the region,” said Durning. ” Our new Chicago office positions us to provide financial services locally to companies in the greater Midwest that are engaged in international commerce.”
The Trade Bank — one of “The Major Trade Banks” according to World Trade magazine (April 2004) — helps local companies increase international sales while reducing risk, accelerating cash flow and improving operating margins.
Here’s an article from Hispanic PR Wire from 2004 about Wells Fargo’s partnership with HSBC Mexico.
Here’s an old article from August 1999 that discusses some earlier business:
Wells Fargo announced today that the Export-Import Bank of the United States has increased Wells Fargo’s delegated lending authority from $5 million up to $10 million per transaction under the Working Capital Guarantee program.
This new lending authority and upgraded status to a “Super” level of delegation that was granted to Wells Fargo and its affiliated business units will greatly benefit customers by reducing loan processing time. [...]
This unique financing program provides the bank a strong U.S. Government guarantee on working capital loans for small- and medium-sized companies that produce goods or services in the U.S. as exports to foreign countries.
I thought the loan for greenhouses in Mexico was to grow produce to be imported into the U.S. Guess we’ve moved past earlier formalities.
Here’s a Wells Fargo timeline spanning from when it was started in 1852 and ending in 1998. The Wells Fargo and HSBC partnership began in 1995 though the idea was hatched in 1989 according to this more in-depth case report from the University of Michigan Business School on the history of Wells Fargo and Company.
Ooh…what’s this? The Wells Fargo Watch. And HSBC Watch. Not sure what all is on these site, but I’ll post them here for others to peruse.
Speaking of Wachovia and how Wells Fargo is trying to buy them out, here’s a November 25, 2008 article from The New York Times that discusses Wachovia executives’ severance pay:
Wachovia, which lost $33 billion in the last two quarters, said 10 top executives may be entitled to $98.1 million in severance pay after the bank is acquired by Wells Fargo, Reuters reported.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Wachovia said the executives would receive severance under their employment agreements if the merger closes by December 31, as expected. Wachovia said shareholders will vote on the merger on Dec 23. [...]
Wells Fargo agreed on October 3 to buy Wachovia for $15.1 billion in stock, trumping a lower bid by Citigroup. The merger value had fallen to roughly $9.3 billion as of November 21 because Wells Fargo shares had fallen.
Wachovia is based in Charlotte, N.C., and Wells Fargo in San Francisco. The combined company would be the fourth-largest U.S. bank, with about $1.4 trillion of assets.
[bold emphasis mine]
The Wachovia shareholders don’t appear too pleased with the possible merger with Wells Fargo, according to their class action suit filed in the state of North Carolina.
According to a New York Times article on November 6, 2008, Wells Fargo sold off $11 billion worth of stock, with plans to sell more, in order to purchase Wachovia. Here are some excerpts:
Wells Fargo said in a statement that it might sell another 61 million shares to meet demand, increasing the offering to about $12.65 billion. The San Francisco-based bank said Wednesday that it planned to sell at least $10 billion in stock.
Wells Fargo previously said it would raise as much as $20 billion to fund the purchase of Wachovia, which is now valued at about $12.4 billion, down from $15.1 billion when the deal was announced on Oct. 3. The Treasury Department subsequently said it would buy $25 billion of Wells Fargo preferred stock as part of the government’s $700 billion banking bailout.
Wells Fargo is expected to complete its takeover of Wachovia by the end of the year. [...]
Let’s look up info on HFC/Beneficial now.
Answers.com says HSBC Finance Corporation (HFC, formerly Household International) is “the consumer lending arm of gigantic British bank HSBC Holdings” and grossed “$25,231.0″ Million in sales and boasted 9.8% growth for fiscal year ending December 2007. Not too shabby.
According to Beneficial’s company website:
For much of the 20th century, Household Finance and Beneficial were competitors in the personal-lending business. In 1998, Household Finance acquired Beneficial Corporation. In 2003, HSBC acquired Household International. Headquartered in London, HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial-services organizations in the world. Its international network comprises over 9,500 offices in 79 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.
After brushing up a bit on HSBC China, HSBC Holdings Plc (London) and its U.S. subsidiary, it’s looking like a global web of arms belonging to the same banking body. You think our regional office is capable of acting autonomously, even if our actions might injure their Pacific-Asian “associates”? I wouldn’t bet on it. Call it a Chinese bank, call it a British bank…doesn’t really matter when it’s both.
I found some new info and will post it in a new thread that illustrates, straight from the horse’s mouth, just how closely they’re all “affiliated.”
Newsvine
wakemenow said
Go to part 3: http://wakemenow.wordpress.com/2008/11/30/hsbc-the-worlds-local-bank-part-3/