| Amid
Complaint Against Russia Lobbyist Branson
Fed Hears MUFG & Citi Still In Russia
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY / SOUTH
BRONX, March 8 –
On Russia, today a Federal
criminal complaint, and a
complaint to the Federal
Reserve (about MUFG, Citigroup
and HSBC). In that order:
SDNY "announced
today the filing of a
Complaint charging ELENA
BRANSON, a dual Russian and
U.S. citizen, with acting and
conspiring to act in the
United States illegally as an
agent of the Russian
government, willfully failing
to register under the Foreign
Agents Registration Act
(“FARA”), as well as
conspiring to commit visa
fraud and making false
statements to the FBI.
As alleged, beginning in at
least 2011, BRANSON worked on
behalf of the Russian
government and Russian
officials to advance Russian
interests in the United
States, including by
coordinating meetings for
Russian officials to lobby
U.S. political officials and
businesspersons, and by
operating organizations in the
United States for the purpose
of publicly promoting Russian
government policies, and
BRANSON never notified the
Attorney General as she was
required to, including by
registering under FARA."
Many of
the world's largest banks
claim to have ethical
standards, something that was
disproved for example by their
involvement predatory lending
as documented by Inner City
Press in articles, book and
Federal Reserve
filings.
Now this same
lack of standards is on
display in the banks' ongoing
presence and business in
Russia. And on March 8 in a
public meeting before the
Federal Reserve and Office of
the Comptroller of the
Currency, Fair Finance Watch
raised it. Video soon; portion
of testimony here:
"There is another
issue which Inner City Press
hereby timely raises to the
Federal Reserve Board: the
continued business with and in
Russia by Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group, which we
confirmed on the bank's
website just before this
testimony.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial
Group's website says, photo
here:
"MUFG's presence
in Russia started in Moscow in
1992, through a Representative
Office. Our presence expanded
significantly through the
establishment of a Russian
subsidiary, ZAO Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
(Eurasia), by the sole
shareholder, The Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., on
29 May 2006. On 14 October
2015, the name of ZAO Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Eurasia)
was changed to AO Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
(Eurasia). The Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. was
renamed to MUFG Bank Ltd.,
effective April 01, 2018. In
line with such change the name
of AO Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
UFJ (Eurasia) was changed to
AO MUFG Bank (Eurasia) on 03
April 2018.
AO MUFG Bank (Eurasia) has a
presence in Moscow and
Vladivostok." This
is troubling, and must be
addressed under the Bank
Holding Company Act's
managerial and financial if
not moral factors. Other large
banks under Federal Reserve
supervision still bragging
about their presence and
business in Russia including
Citigroup and HSBC. The
Federal Reserve must act on
this immediately -- Inner City
Press is requesting this be
raised to the new / nominated
Governors at the earliest
time, along with recent rubber
stamping by Federal Reserve
Banks, which brag of not being
government agencies, of bank
mergers including involving
banks with Needs to Improve
CRA ratings, like Berkshire
Bank. So too should the record
of Toronto Dominion, among
others. But the MUFG - Russia
/ Ukraine issue is most
pressing, on this
application."
Citibank, for
example, one of the world
predatory lending banks in
that scandal, is openly still
in Russia, as Inner City Press
showed on March 7 here.
So too
HSBC, previously known for
helping El Chapo Guzman, see here.
Who else?
Fair Finance Watch will be
raising others global banks to
the Federal Reserve governors
and others for their action,
Watch this site.
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a
month helps keep us going and grants you
access to exclusive bonus material on our
Patreon page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2022 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
