PricewaterhouseCoopers gave a presentation using the above title at the conference I was at in Oslo last week.
I won't tell you most of what they said: Chatham House rules applied.
I will tell you what I told them. I said that in my opinion they weren't part of the problem - they designed the problem, spread its contagion through the range of secrecy jurisdiction offices through which they operate (all of the significant and most of the minor ones - well over 40 in all) and continue to infect the world with the dual curse of tax abuse and regulatory degradation which has resulted in the near collapse of most of the world's banks.
Rather oddly the senior manager the partners in Oslo sent to defend their case agreed. I think it's fair to note that: they were there to promote their cause. I don't think they did.
Edited 30-10-08
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Nocera reported in Saturday’s NYT that he was able to gain access to a recording of an employee-only October 17 conference call by a top (unnamed) executive of JPMorgan Chase, the beneficiary of $25 billion of federal largesse.
At one point in the conference one participant asked whether the $25 billion will “change our strategic lending policy.” The executive then proceeded to spill the beans: “What we do think, it will help us to be a little bit more active on the acquisition side or opportunistic side for some banks who are still struugling.” Translation: “Say what? Lend to folks up to their ears in debt already?! Do we look like morons?? You know as well as I that breakneck financial consolidation has been the name of the game since the early nineties. So have leveraged buyouts. Only the latter are normally accomplished with private money. Now we get to leverage bank acquisitions with public money! Is this a deal or is this a deal?”
“And I would not assume that we are done on the acquisition side just because of the Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns mergers. I think that there are going to be some great opportunities for us to grow in this environment, and I think we have an opportunity to use that $25 billion in that way, and obviously depending on whether recession turns into depression or what happens in the future, you know, we have that as a backstop.” Moments later the exec speaks openly about Morgan’s intentions regarding loans: “We would think that loan volume will continue to go down as we continue to tighten credit to fully reflect the high cost of pricing on the loan side.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10724
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/opinion/29wed1.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/25/business/25nocera.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin
Dear Richard,
unfortunately, I am convinced that we, the accountants are the key problem because we, the accountants know preciously why, how and when the money has to flow through certain juristictions and even could stop those transactions. However, as long as the accountants do not have any ethical or moral values the system will remain the same. If an accountant has ethical or moral values and stands up for it and exposes him-/herself and his entire family must be protected by the law. The law protects a the moment the big bulk of dubious transactions and not the accountants. If the accountants would be protected a big bulk of the dubioius transactions would be eliminated in a short period of time. There are many accountants who struggle, but they cannot talk, it is just too dangerous. It the Accountants talke the Bankers nor the lawyers could manipulated the system.
Therefore, I believe a big change has to happen in the field of the protection of honest Accountants and as you say the Country by Country Accounting would help tremendously.
Rudolf Elmer
[…] has responded to my blog entitled ‘Accountants – part of the problem or part of the solution?’ […]
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