WikiLeaks' founder claims he has the goods that could take down a big U.S. bank

[lycanox]

Imagine if they succeed.


WikiLeaks' founder claims he has the goods that could take down a big U.S. bank. But there's little sign anyone believes him.

Julian Assange, the founder of the site that has gained notoriety by publishing secret U.S. military and diplomatic documents, said in an interview this week that the next WikiLeaks target is a major bank.

Inconveniently, he didn't say which one, specifying only that it is "a big U.S. bank." Assange also didn't say just what sort of information he has that would be so damaging.

With Wall Street already up to its ears in scandal, market watchers reacted with a shrug.

"We already know the banks are grossly incompetent, can't manage risk and would be dead without taxpayer support," said Barry Ritholtz, a Wall Street money manager who rails on the bankers at his Big Picture blog. "What are we going to find in these leaks -- that free checking isn't really free?"

Like it or not, we shall soon find out. Assange said in an interview with Forbes that he plans to release "either tens or hundreds of thousands of documents" early next year.

The release, Assange said, will reveal "unethical behavior." He said he would stop short of calling the depicted actions criminal.

Assange said he seeks to provoke a full-scale investigation of the banks, along the lines of the probes that followed the collapse of energy trader Enron nine years ago.


Source = WikiLeaks' next target: 'A big U.S. bank' (CNNMoney.com) (http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/30/news/economy/banks.wikileaks/index.htm?eref=googletoolbar)

[James Random]

He's quite within his right not to tell anyone anything just yet.

[rioja]

But why wait with his timing - are his strings being pulled ? (just a thought) this is a man who allegedly thrives on freedom of information and getting it out there , so why wait ?

For what it's worth hope it's gubbernment sachs .

[lycanox]

Most likely because he is also a sensationalist showman.

[James Random]

But why wait with his timing - are his strings being pulled ? (just a thought) this is a man who allegedly thrives on freedom of information and getting it out there , so why wait ?

For what it's worth hope it's gubbernment sachs .

Apparently wikileaks do subject the documents to a thorough audit to remove names/addresses etc. Which is probably why it will take some time.

@Lycanox
I don't necessarily agree with you. But sensationalism is what gets the papers salivating and assange is about getting the information to the people. Not necessarily a bad thing in this case.

[rioja]

hmmm re the time, I've done proofing and editing/protecting names etc can be achieved very quickly ... subject to how many pages we're talking about.

I think he is playing showman a bit - he now has the public's ear and they're gagging for it !
(wow , two of the senses in one hit!)

[Abyssal_Worm]

Can't imagine what could be used to bring down one of the "big" banks. The US government will just paper over any sensational news and tell us that the bank is "too big to fail."

[one14am]

I bet it's the bank I had so many problems with in their mishandling of my funds. Am eager to find out.

[rioja]

Can't imagine what could be used to bring down one of the "big" banks. The US government will just paper over any sensational news and tell us that the bank is "too big to fail."

There are a multitude of things which a bank could do to make it less than honourable...shall I list a few ? yeh, ..this is totally aside from shafting their customers one to one btw

Fudging end of year balance sheets: a process whereby any bad assets are sold one day prior to reporting to a willing receiver and then bought back on the first day of the next financial year at the same price. ( I have personally witnessed this some years ago whilst working for non-americans)

Using out of date/lagging house valuations to bump up their property portfolios. The Spanish were guilty of this until a new law was passed just this last September....it will cause mayhem. The correct term is mark to market.

Manipulation: a couple of cronies (banks/mates in bed with one another) bunching together to deliberately all buy or all sell a given currency , commodity etc...

Just a couple to chew over

[Reef Badlaw]

hmmm re the time, I've done proofing and editing/protecting names etc can be achieved very quickly ... subject to how many pages we're talking about.

I think he is playing showman a bit - he now has the public's ear and they're gagging for it !
(wow , two of the senses in one hit!)

Yep... If he had anything sensational, he'd release it now. He can't out-Wall Street Wall Street, when it comes-to 'big league' bank-gossip.

[Raptor Witness]

Most likely because he is also a sensationalist showman.

I suspect that he is far more than that. The convenient timing of these rape allegations in Sweden, only serve to underline the desperation to label Assange anything but a reporter.

It's interesting to watch the televised press today take the government's side, especially in view of the recent past. I guess they're feeling the sting of the Internet's power to quickly remove them from their lofty posts. Their jealousy is obvious and revealing.

The old adage, "what goes around, comes around," fits perfectly on the finger it was meant to.


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[Max]

I think its more likely he dosnt want to oversweeten the pie. The wave of news stories from the diplomatic cables is still at its peak. There are still hundreds of news stories to come out. Why would he then add on a story about banks, while a different wave is in motion? He didnt release the iraq and afghan war diaries at the same time for this reason. He will wait until the media machine chugs out its final, battered news story from the cables, then he will start the whole process over again on the bank. Wikileaks is also rumoured to have a huge 250k+ internal business documents to public as well right? Which he says will provide even MORE news!

[lycanox]

Or he is just planning to release the foreign affairs papers first. And then switch subject.

[Raptor Witness]

I wonder what dirty little secrets he could publish about a bank(s,) that would be new news?

My guess would be something like currency manipulation as part of a tool or weapon, used by the U.S. government to punish or reward the balance of trade for select nations. It can't be something, which we might literally consider ... business as usual.

No matter what they try and do to Assange, this organization will still exist and be able to publish. Just because this is an Internet newspaper, doesn't change the U.S. Supreme Court's precedent of the early 1970's. In fact, according to the court, the state cannot stop the publisher of leaks. This precedent is well established in so many other cases since, that the government's argument would be viewed as laughable by any serious legal scholar. Besides, Assange is a foreign national. So they convict him of some crime. So they "get the SOB." What's next, attempt to block publication on the Internet? Now that would be interesting. Book burning is the surest way to fan the flames of intrigue. I have yet to read one of these diplomatic cables, but if they start prosecuting the publishers, I might want to take a closer look.

I have a feeling that "Top Secret" in the future will mean .... catch me if you can, and so what if you do.

[Raptor Witness]

It was widely reported yesterday that Amazon.com pulled Wikileaks down from off of its high powered [cloud server.] (http://intelligent-enterprise.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=T4YW5PRULZ5ADQE1GHRSK H4ATMY32JVN?articleID=225800235)

I find their arguments for doing so, remarkable, exclaiming that the leaked intelligence material was stolen. Yet, I see many books on their website for SALE, on the subject of the Pentagon Papers and Daniel Ellsberg. Clearly, there's a huge double standard in play here.

Speaking of Daniel Ellsberg, here's a great interview of him discussing his concerns for Assange's safety. The federal government did, after all, attempt to murder Daniel Ellsberg, which is more what you would expect from the "mafia controlled" Russians. At least that's what the Wikileaks diplomatic cables called our Siberian friends.

Watching my government squirm like a worm in hot ashes is much more revealing than these documents.


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[Justice]

Can't imagine what could be used to bring down one of the "big" banks. The US government will just paper over any sensational news and tell us that the bank is "too big to fail."

They can say what they like but the markets will decide whos telling the truth on this one.

it's just a guess but i bet i can guess the country of origin the controllers of the bank comes from.

Put your fiat paper into gold and sit this one out.

[shawnee]

I wish they'd go to Britain and just plain bag that snipe nosed twit. I'd like to see how long he'd last on this earth if he leaked a mess of Russian or Chinese info. 'Alpha' slip him a radioactive 'cocktail' so fast he wouldn't have time to dish dirt on any bank...

[Raptor Witness]

Now [PayPal has axed] (http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/04/wikileaks.pay.pal/index.html?hpt=T2) its relationship with Wikileaks. The reason given, is because it encourages illegal activity.

I guess the same could be said of the stock market.

I doubt the money raised through the Internet is hardly worth mentioning. The power behind this cause isn't removed with tweezers. Every coercive step the U.S. government takes is underlined with desperation.