Because They Care
by Not Sure
26 March 2023
In 2011, the law firm of Steven J. Baum P.C. threw a Halloween party. This firm was known as a “foreclosure mill” representing banks and mortgage servicers attempting to foreclose on homeowners and evict them from their homes. The largest of this type of firm in New York, they represented nearly all the giant mortgage lenders including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
A Baum employee sent a few photographs of this party to a New York Times reporter. In one photo, Baum’s office was decorated to look like a row of foreclosed houses. A sign said, “Baum Estates.”
In another photograph, two employees were dressed as homeless people. One woman was holding a cheap wine bottle up to her mouth, the other was holding a sign that read, “3rd party squatter. I lost my home and I was never served.” This expression “I was never served” was mocking a “typical excuse” of a homeowner trying to evade foreclosure proceedings.
The New York Times published the photographs and that was the end of Steven J. Baum P.C., in a rare example of justice. The firm had been under investigation by the New York attorney general and were to be slapped with a $2 million fine. The public outrage over the story included picketing the firm’s office. The New York AG was pressured to prosecute rather than settle. Steven J. Baum closed shop in 2012.
The giant mortgage lenders sailed through, as pirates always do.
Let’s keep an eye on Jamie Dimon, the billionaire Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase. He appears to be doing all the “right” things. According to Wiki, “from 2015, which is when the Paris Agreement was adopted, until 2021, JP Morgan Chase provided $317 billion in fossil fuel financing; 33% more than any other bank.” One wonders how they calculated their financing to come out at 33% more than other banks rather than 32% or 34%.
It’s not Dimon’s support of the climate change agenda or “Environmental, social, and corporate governance” (ESG), also known as environmental, social, governance, that we need to watch, but his connection to Jeffrey Epstein. A former JPMorgan high-level executive, James Staley, is an American banker and until 2021 was the CEO of Barclays, an international bank headquartered in London, England. He resigned amid a probe into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. For thirty-four years, until 2013, he was a banker at JPMorgan. Private counsel for the government of the Virgin Islands asserts that Epstein’s connection to JP Morgan goes straight to the top and that’s Jamie Dimon.
The Virgin Islands issued a subpoena to Jamie Dimon earlier this year stating that JPMorgan “facilitated, sustained and concealed” Epstein’s abuse.
***
Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) is the where the looting pirates will pillage their booty for many years to come. It’s sustainable. It’s woke. It’s virtuous and virtue-signalling. Why would anyone look too closely at philanthropic fellows and friends of the earth?
Jerome Powell, the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve has served on the board of The Nature Conservancy.
Christine Lagarde, former head of the International Monetary Fund and the current head of the European Central Bank is quite keen on all things sustainable. She has committed the European Central Bank to look into how monetary policy could contribute to address climate change, and
“promised that "no stone would be left unturned." The ECB president also adopted a change of communication style, in particular in her use of social media to promote gender equality, and by opening dialogue with civil society stakeholders.” Whenever I hear someone say “no stone left unturned” it brings to mind a wrecking crew and total demolition, though Ms. Lagarde probably meant she’d be looking at all ECB policies to make sure they were squeaky clean. Right?
If you need help sleeping at night, try to wade through the language from the Bank of England’s report on “climate-related risks.”
Bank of England Releases Report on Climate-Related Risks and the Regulatory Capital Frameworks
Here’s one sleep-inducing passage for you:
Further work is needed to assess
whether there may be a regime gap in the macroprudential framework. Any use of
macroprudential tools would need to be assessed carefully against how well they
mitigate climate risks, their behavioural impacts, and the potential for
unintended consequences. Calibration of macroprudential tools would also be
challenging given uncertainties around climate risks and the need for them to
help facilitate an orderly transition to net zero. The Bank will explore the
nature and materiality of such regime gaps as part of its ongoing policy work
and consider whether action to address them would be appropriate.
The current governor of the Bank of England is Andrew Bailey and he is managing so far to keep a low profile. He’s not too colorful when speaking about climate goals.
The former governor of the Bank of England is the Canadian, Mark Carney. Unlike Bailey, Carney is all the way “out” with his commitment to Save the Earth. Before his high-profile appointments, Carney spent a lucky 13 years at Goldman Sachs. As governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013, his actions during the financial crisis of 2007-2008 “are said to have played a major role in helping Canada avoid the worst impacts of the financial crisis,” according to Wikipedia.
“Carney was appointed as United Nations special envoy for climate action and finance as he prepared to step down as governor of the Bank of England in March 2020. In January 2020, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Carney to the position of finance advisor for the UK presidency of the COP26 United Nations Climate Change conference in Glasgow; at that time the conference was scheduled for November 2020, but it was later postponed to November 2021.
As of October 2020, Carney is vice chairman at Brookfield Asset Management where he leads the firm's environmental, social and governance (ESG) and impact fund investment strategy.
Carney helped launch the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021. He acts as the group's Co-Chair.”
He is one wind-sniffing pirate, er, I mean sailor, if ever there was one.
This week’s Redux, number 102, is from a talk that Alan Watt gave on February 10, 2019:
Materialism
=
"Societal Breakdown, Financial Mess,
We All Pay for Our Rulers' Success."
© Alan Watt Feb. 10, 2019
The
sections of this talk used for the Redux focused on spirit, what it takes to be
a good human and the sixth sense. Please
take the time to listen to the entire talk from 2019, because Alan also covered
several banking crises including the latest one involving Goldman Sachs. Alan’s humor is on display and as disgusting
as these banker-pirates are, he manages to draw out a few laughs.
Following up on that 1Malaysia
Development Berhad scandal involving Goldman Sachs, I had a bit of a hunt for
all things involving David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Most of what I looked at ended up in the
Redux audio, including his double life as an EDM DJ and a story about the theft
of some of his fine wine, but I forgot to balance out tales of Solomon’s
grotesquely greedy lifestyle by highlighting a bit of his philanthropic work.
Naturally Goldman Sachs is quite
committed to Saving the Planet. Please
visit their website to learn more about their programs and policies on “Climate
Transition,” “ESG” and to read reports on their “Task Force on Climate-Related
Financial Disclosures.”
But David Solomon the man has time for more than spinning records and swilling rare wine. He cares about freedom for the people of Hong Kong, and he is on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization which attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York City. Both he and Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein have given millions to this charity.
Solomon is keeping good company at Robin Hood. Jeff Bezos’ mother and half brother are both on the board. If you visit the website of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and don’t get distracted by all the wellness and oneness articles or stop to buy a “Wellness Table Lamp” for $999 or her Goop “Cadillac of sex toys” gold wands for $1,249, you can learn that Paltrow was on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation for ten years.
Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest stole from the rich and gave to the poor. On the high seas of the pirate banker, there’s inversion. Up is down. Right is wrong.
Our work, our sweat, and our tears create the booty. Pirates rape, loot, and pillage.
The Pirates of Penzance - I am a Pirate King - Anthony Warlow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2j90qg_5_w
© Not Sure
Additional reading/viewing:
ESG Is Banking’s Next Big Thing (2022)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/servicenow/2022/01/28/esg-is-bankings-next-big-thing/?sh=6c14569355df
Bankers Bury ‘ESG’ in Pitch Books to Head Off Republican
Attacks (2023)
The right is wrong: ESG investing did not create the banking
crisis (2023)
Blackrock's Pam Chan on ESG and how successful future leaders
will think differently
Why businesses must focus on long-term value creation to
drive sustainability - WEF
Treasury Secretary Yellen: The U.S. should have moved faster
toward renewable energy
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/25/yellen-the-us-should-have-moved-faster-toward-renewable-energy.html
Fed chair Powell warns of ‘profound challenges’ posed by
climate change
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/04/economy/powell-climate-change-central-banks/index.html
Goldman Sachs raises $1.6 bln private capital for climate
fund
Goldman Sachs bankers bristle at CEO David Solomon’s pay
ahead of yearly ‘Investor Day’ (2023)
The Blurred Lines Between Goldman C.E.O.’s Day Job and His
D.J. Gig (2023)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/05/business/david-solomon-dj-goldman-sachs.html
The Boss Takes a Pay Cut But His Goldman Sachs Vision
Survives (2023)
Goldman chief says sorry over ex-banker's role in 1MDB
scandal (2019)
Goldman Sachs plans to cut bonuses as 1MDB scandal deepens
(2019)
Goldman Sachs' next CEO is a part-time DJ (2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS3prB1HJJo
Ex-assistant in $1.2 million Goldman Sachs wine theft case
jumps to death from 33rd story window (2018)
The Wine Thief (2018)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/style/goldman-sachs-wine-thief-nicolas-demeyer.html
David Solomon’s lavish lifestyle irks Goldman Sachs
underlings (2021)
https://nypost.com/2021/03/15/david-solomons-lavish-lifestlye-irks-goldman-sachs-underlings/
Former San Remo Pad Of Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon Seeks $24
Million (2021)
Robin Hood Foundation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_Foundation
Steven J. Baum law firm, which had foreclosure Halloween
party, agrees to $4M settlement
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex
trafficking, Virgin Islands tells judge (2023)