Crime and Punishment: Switzerland, the U.S.A., France, Poland, the Taliban and Hollywood have different standards for the Roman Polanski tragicomedy.

Let's see what is in it for Luxembourg.

In just days after Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland for rape charges of a 13 year old girl in the US in 1977, the world is a patchwork of different conflicting reactions. Here is the human tragicomedy.

1. Switzerland

Switzerland says the law is the law, and rape is rape, and rape is a crime, also in Switzerland. We are going to arrest the man and extradite him. The world should not confuse this with Swiss policies on tax evasion, which does not exist in Switzerland. It is called private banking, and Switzerland doesn't extradite private banking clients. Or refugees. But encourages worldwide amnesties.

I wonder if 40 years ago, when Polanski bought property in Gstaad, Switzerland, a crime was a crime?

2. USA

The US Justice Department says, "who said do nothing Justice? We want him to be arrested, and we want him now. He committed a crime and he pleaded guilty."

The victim it appears just wants to see the story go away. I hope the lady gets advice and understands that she can get even with the guilty man. There is money on the table. Even a Swiss Chalet in Gstaad. Did you watch the Swiss Franc recently?

3. France

The only balanced opinion in the whole world comes from France: half the French Government wants to see the charges dropped after 40 years. The other half thinks he should pay for the crime. That's a really balanced position.

Liberté, Fraternité etcetera. I remember, there was that third principle, right there in the middle, but I can't figure which one it was.

4. Poland

As the other Great Daughter of the Catholic Church, Poland doesn't ignore that a sin has been committed. But Polanski's Polish link is a sort of discount coupon that you can exchange for impunity. But you must confess, which he has done with the guilty plea. And you are supposed to do penitence. No! That word has no sexual connotation!

5. The Taliban

Clear case: forty whiplashes for the victim.

6. Hollywood and Luxembourg and Switzerland again.

Whoopi Goldberg always makes me laugh and she has great political capital in public opinion. She said that what Polanski pleaded guilty for, was not "rape, rape". This is the greatest creation and conceptual advance in communication. The Luxembourg Government should hire her as a consultant, if the Catholic Church in the US hasn't yet hired her.

Let's try this whoopi in real life: "Officer, I wasn't really "speeding speeding."

For Luxembourg, even for Switzerland, this can be used to get out of the moving sands of international criticism. If the Swiss can agree to quit their stubborn attitude that a crime is a crime. Just change it into a crime is not always a "crime crime." A tax haven is not a "haven haven." A crook is not a "crook crook." A bonus is not a "bonus bonus". I know, you got it.

The only remaining category of people with an interest in this story are:

7. Parents of 13 year old girls

Parents, you know best all by yourselves.

Finally for "crooks crooks" this is good news, though it is not really news in Luxembourg where it is common wisdom. The longer a case is delayed, the better the chances to get away with your "crime crime". In Luxembourg, nine out of ten bankruptcies are fraudulent. According to whom ? According to common wisdom. Not only is there impunity. The crooks turn around and restart the same business again, with a clean slate. I have once been a "victim victim" there, years ago. I'm all blue by now, holding my breath for any resolution, for 6 years already. There will be no resolution this year.

Human Justice is "relative relative" in all senses of the term.

Luxembourg: Onshoring the hedge fund industry

Maybe help is on the way for Luxembourg:

http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub/2009/10/02/onshoring-the-hedge-fund-industry/

After another disastrous couple of weeks, where Dexia BIL announced employment cuts, despite the very generous bailout by the Luxembourg Government (read people), after having mismanaged itself in hole, it is the German Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) which closes its doors in Luxembourg. Another 200 jobs are gone with no one seeing an easy replacement.

There was a time when both Dexia BIL and LBBW were among the highest rated banks in Luxembourg. At LBBW at least everyone, from employees to management, seems to suffer the consequences from wreckless banking.

At Dexia BIL and Dexia-RBC it is 200-300 sailors who have to swim, though they just landed 25% of Dexias global profits? The captains stay on the boat. We need many hedge funds to compensate for those employment losses. Oh, yes, the politically correct label is early retirement and voluntary resignation.

Hello! Employment goes down in Luxembourg, no matter what the label tries to say!

Egide Thein

Dr Martin Salami's Secret Bank Account in Ouagadougou

I thought this was very funny, as we are all holding our breath to know if someone we know might have a hidden bank account in Ouagadougou. I had some very fine people dig out this evidence: Dr Martin Salami has an account there!

Proof is here below.

http://www.419legal.org/419-scam-letter-archives/36656-banque-atlantique-ouagadougou-mr-martin-salami.html

WARNING: It is my professional opinion that you should not take Dr Salami's offer seriously. You will hurt my feelings if you do so and you will disappoint me and lose money. I know, I know, but some people fall for crooks. I did once in Luxembourg. But my crooks are fine.

Others fell for Madoff. So my disclaimer here is not superfluous.

Switzerland, UBS, the OECD's Grey List, Roman Polanski and Guantanamo

Seven hundred years of Swiss history are accelerating. News agencies traditionally were used to a placid pace when it comes to news from Switzerland. No more! Consider these:

1. UBS

We have witnessed UBS in a Titanic-like voyage to America, hitting the Iceberg called IRS. We know the outcome, or let's reconsider that: we don't yet know all the consequences. Just this week, as the WSJ reported, a certain Juergen Homann admitted in Federal Court in New Jersey to concealing more than $5 million in accounts at Swiss banks, including UBS. Homann faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He is the fifth UBS client to plead guilty in the US to tax evasion. May I suggest that this is only the tip of the iceberg. (1)

2. OECD's Grey List

In other news, Switzerland rushed through 12 double taxation agreements, just like Luxembourg did, to get off the OECD's Grey List. And OECD promptly erased the black spot on Switzerland's white coat, that is taking Switzerland off the Grey List without even waiting for ratification by Swiss legislative instances. Is OECD's complacent behavior a signal that they already dismiss the importance of their very own standard, knowing that there is much more to come under the G20 push or just simply from the US, France and Germany?

3. Roman Polanski arrested in Zurich

According to CNN: " Filmmaker Roman Polanski has been arrested in Switzerland on an arrest warrant issued 31 years ago in connection with a rape charge.

The Academy Award-winning director pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in the United States, but fled the country before he could be sentenced. Authorities in the United States issued a warrant for his arrest in 1978. He was taken into custody on Saturday, Zurich police said." (2)

4. Switzerland ready to accept Guantanamo prisoners

In other news, AP reports about Switzerland being "interested" in accepting four Guantanamo prisoners. According to AP, "the Swiss Justice Ministry says officials visited the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, last month to gather information on inmates the Alpine country is considering taking in when they are released. "

"... Zurich weekly SonntagsZeitung reported that the four inmates in question were two Chinese Muslims — or Uighurs — an Uzbek national and a Palestinian." (3)

In the meantime though, Swiss cantonal authorities have demanded that the four inmates' innocence has first to be formally established, before admitting them in their communities. Interesting how the world has declared all Guantanamo prisoners as "innocent' while they are in Guantanamo, but need formal proof of their innocence before accepting them as refugees.

5. What is the link between the above?

None whatsoever.

Some may ask the question if after 700 years the Swiss came full circle, starting again to bow to Gessler's hat on a pole? You'll hear the denial from the horse's mouth: separation of powers, commitment to international standards among others and in four languages.

The reality for Switzerland is the same than for Luxembourg, Austria, Cayman, Bermuda and about 70 other jurisdictions: the powers out there need the money and you have it. Ill gotten they say. Economic refugees you may say. There is a need for compromising, or get it pushed down your throats. The OECD standard double taxation agreement will not be that compromise.

Egide Thein

(1) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125392067799142507.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

(2) http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/27/zurich.roman.polanski.arrested/index.html

(3) http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=11163258

Vuelta a Espana: Luxembourg's Andy and Frank Schleck and the Tour of Spain in Hindsight

The Vuelta was slightly disappointing I would say. But nothing terrible either. In particular, following the career of both Schleck brothers from the US is not always possible in real time.

Of course it is some disappointment and also somewhat worrying to have seen them drop out for health reasons. But it seems that both will be fine. We look forward seeing them in the future.

The Vuelta itself had some major flaws, which makes it only a very junior member in the family of Tours. At least that seems to be the public perception, that it is a minor event. Why? Probably because it was late in the season, the field of champions was small, the first stages in Holland may have seemed awkward and disruptive for everyone.

I believe that for worldwide recognition, the Vuelta is not well covered by the international Press. This could be the number one urgent issue that needs to be addressed.

Before the Vuelta, I shared on this blog places that were accessible online such as:

http://cyclingfans.com/live_race_coverage

and

http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?id=365052&catid=-2&sid=13044&db_oem_id=23000

with live streaming video.

Universal Sports' streaming video was of good quality. But how many people could access it? After a couple of days, their reporting was no longer available for free and they charged for internet access. In my view this was a disservice to the Vuelta, to themselves and to the riders who live from being well known. Viewers here just dropped out.

Whereas by now it should be known that cycling is a sport that thrives on free access, mass recognition and support by the public which motivates the sponsors to be there with their deep pockets, the most fatal error the organizers can make is to cut out free access. And that's certainly true for their presence on the internet, which cherishes a culture of "free".

Where were you, Versus!?

Egide Thein

WHOIZZIT: New US Ambassador to Luxembourg and Call me Madam

When Harry Truman appointed Pearle Mesta as the first woman Ambassador to Luxembourg, Irving Berlin got his inspiration for the musical "Call me Madam". Her main mission was to go to "Liechtenburg" and say no to a $10 million loan needed by bankrupt Liechtenburg. But she fell in love with the uniformed Secretary of State there, and failed her mission, but found love. No wonder everyone wants to go there since then.

PHOTO: Irving Berlin's former home (1)

Forty years later we bought Irving Berlin's mansion for cash, a wonderful turn of events. I guess the Luxembourg Government, today sitting on a multiple of its price, is still happy with what I did to them in 1990.

This is a chronicle of the event as published by the New York Times on May 5, 1990.

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/02/style/chronicle-363290.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

CHRONICLE
By Robert E. Tomasson
Published: Wednesday, May 2, 1990

IRVING BERLIN wrote the words and music to ''Call Me Madam,'' the musical based on President HARRY S. TRUMAN'S appointment of PERLE MESTA as Ambassador to Luxembourg, in his five-story town house at 17 Beekman Place in Manhattan. Forty years ago, ''Call Me Madam'' opened on Broadway. Yesterday, the Government of Luxembourg bought the building, where the composer died on Sept. 12 at the age of 101.
The house was built in 1930 by JAMES V. FORRESTAL, who lived there until 1946, when Mr. Berlin bought it, and who later became the first Secretary of Defense. It will be used for offices for Luxembourg's Consulate and its Mission to the United Nations, said EGIDE THEIN, Luxembourg's Consul General in New York. The price was $5.7 million.

(1) http://www.thecityreview.com/sutton/iberlin1.jpg

Switzerland: Swiss set for flood of UBS cases after US deal.

The Financial Times today reported that the Swiss expect about 500 challenges to the UBS agreement to share 4500 names with the IRS to be filed by year end.

www.ft.com/ubs

Not surprising. Didn't UBS expect this? Didn't the Swiss Government expect this? I hope no one was naive to the point of not expecting any kind of reaction on behalf of the duped customers.

How justice will be served in Switzerland, will be the next question. If internationally it is perceived to be too soft on UBS, it will be labeled as biased. The world will draw the conclusion that Swiss banks don't protect their customers. If ever that conclusion is not yet drawn.

If the outcome is viewed as just right, meaning it seriously repairs the customers' prejudice, it risks to bankrupt UBS or at least its reputation or what is left.

This is without talking about the other threat, that probably needs some time to develop, legal action from the duped clients in the US. I touched a word in my post of July 13, 2009.

http://egidethein.blogspot.com/2009/07/switzerland-luxembourg-other-offshore.html

The US "victims" of the fatal chain reaction: UBS solicitation - promise of confidentiality and secrecy - tax evasion - UBS' disclosure of clients' names to the IRS, could conceivably have an after play in US courts. UBS has important activities in the jurisdiction, it sent their private bankers to solicit clients, and the clients are residents. These elements could probably be sufficient to bring legal action in the US. One has only to wonder about the strange situation, where two parties in a crime, UBS and the client together committing money laundering and tax evasion, can sue one another for breach of contract.

UBS in front of a US jury? Good luck!

Egide Thein