Luxembourg Takes a Leak

The ICIJ has obtained a trove of leaked documents detailing the nefarious tactics of massive multi-nationals to evade taxes all over the world using the "squeaky clean on the outside, corporate friendly on the inside" Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and their secret tax agreements.  See this video from the ICIJ to see how it all works.  The Corporate cast of villains includes a cast of usual suspects including AIG, Deutchse Bank, IKEA and more.  According to Wikipedia:

In March 2010, the Sunday Telegraph reported that most of Kim Jong-Il's $4bn in secret accounts is in Luxembourg banks.^[45] Amazon.co.uk also benefits from Luxembourg tax loopholes by channeling substantial UK revenues as reported by The Guardian in April 2012.^[46] Luxembourg ranked third on the Tax Justice Network's 2011 Financial Secrecy Index of the world's major tax havens, scoring only slightly behind the Cayman Islands.^[47] In 2013, Luxembourg is ranked as the 2nd safest tax haven in the world, behind Switzerland.

 Additional ICIJ background is here and here.

The Anti-Consumer Administration

In yet another comical example of government giving a gentle slap to Corporate Crime, Richard Cordray had the gall to crow about getting fines totaling $15 million from 4 mortgage insurers for the offenders paying illegal kickbacks in the mortgage industry.  The CFPB even says in their press release that "Illegal kickbacks distort markets and can inflate the financial burden of homeownership for consumers,” Richard Cordray, the CFPB’s director, said in an e-mailed statement. “We believe these mortgage insurance companies funneled millions of dollars to mortgage lenders for well over a decade."

Yeah, so who's going to jail guys?  You can easily spot the CFPB guys, they (along with the SEC and Justice Department) are the ones in clown suits hurling cream pies at the hardened criminals. The criminals identified were Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp., part of Richmond, Virginia-based Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW); United Guaranty Corp., which belongs to New York-based American International Group Inc. (AIG); Radian Guaranty Inc., a subsidiary of Radian Group Inc. (RDN), of Philadelphia; Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., a unit of Milwaukee-based MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG)

Hey, Crooks Can Sue Too... AIG

I shouldn't be shocked or surprised at the sheer arrogance of the jerks on the AIG board of Directors, but occasionally even they can elicit a gasp of outrage.  They now think the bailout "injured" their stockholders and want to sue the government.  The Baltimore Sun summed up the situation very ably, as did the New Yorker.  AIG was bailed out with BILLIONS of taxpayer Dollars.  Their crash was the result of arrogance, incompetence and greed, and if anybody on this planet deserves to be in prison, it is the AIG executives from that era.

Here is a Summary from Wikipedia.
"The United States Federal Reserve Bank on September 16, 2008 created an $85 billion credit facility to enable the company to meet increased collateral obligations consequent to the credit rating downgrade, in exchange for the issuance of a stock warrant to the Federal Reserve Bank for 79.9% of the equity of AIG. The Federal Reserve Bank and the United States Treasury by May 2009 had increased the potential financial support to AIG, with the support of an investment of as much as $70 billion, a $60 billion credit line and $52.5 billion to buy mortgage-based assets owned or guaranteed by AIG, increasing the total amount available to as much as $182.5 billion"

Update Jan 9, 2012 - AIG says forget it, we ain't suing anyone.