Put bankers behind bars
Dear
friends,
Big
banks have been rigging the interest rates
on our mortgages and student loans! They've finally gone too far.
The EU finance regulator is
bringing new laws
to put bankers behind bars for these crimes but needs popular
support to face down the banking lobby and bring global change --
let's get 1 million people to stand with him in the next 3 days:
|
Big
banks have been caught in a massive scam to rig global interest
rates, ripping off millions of people
on their mortgages, student loans and more! We'd go to jail for this,
but Barclays bank has only been fined, and just a fraction of their
profits! Outrage is mounting -- this is our chance to finally turn
the tide of the banks' reign over our democracies.
The
EU finance regulator, Michel
Barnier is standing up to the powerful bank lobby
and championing reform that would put bankers behind bars for fraud
like this. If the EU goes
first, accountability could quickly spread
across the globe. But the banks are lobbying hard against it, and we
need a massive surge of people power to drive these reforms through.
If
we can get 1 million people to stand with Barnier in the next 3 days,
it will give him momentum
to face down the banking lobby and push governments to bring reform.
Click below to sign, and our growing numbers will be represented by
adding mock bankers to a jail
right in front of the EU Parliament:
The
full scale of the scandal is still unknown, but what we know is
breathtaking:
"Several" unnamed major banks were involved, and the
rigging of the LIBOR interest rate, the rate on which many of the
world's interest rates are based, affected the value of literally
hundreds of trillions
of dollars in investments. Barclays alone has admitted to committing
this fraud "hundreds" of times.
For
too long, our governments have been cowed by powerful banks
who threatened to move elsewhere if challenged. For too long, banks
have manipulated our market economies, tilting the playing field in
their favour, and engaging in reckless risk-taking, secure in the
knowledge that they could force governments to hand them our taxpayer
money when they got into trouble.
The
system is rigged, and that's a crime. It's time to put the criminals
behind bars for it. It starts in Europe -- let's make it happen:
There
may never have been a time in modern history when the big banks
didn't have excessive and extraordinary power that they regularly
abused. But democracy is on the march -- we've seen this march
overcome tyrants across the world, and together, we'll help end the
reign of the banks as well.
With
hope,
Ricken,
Iain, Alex, Antonia, Giulia, Luis, and the entire Avaaz team
P.S.
-- Last week 94,000 people joined Avaaz member David R.'s campaign
against foul-play in the Mexican elections which he launched on the
new Avaaz Community Petitions platform. Get support for the things
you care strongly about by starting your campaign here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition
More
information:
FSA’s
Turner Says Banks Culture One of ‘Cynical Entitlement’
(Bloomberg)
Barclays
Libor scandal: how can we change banking culture? (The Guardian)
Barclays
just the tip of the iceberg as banking braced for more scandals (The
Guardian)
The
rotten heart of finance: A scandal over key interest rates is about
to go global (Economist)
Banking
Reforms after the Libor scandal (Financial Times)
EU's
Barnier pushes for criminal sanctions for Libor abuse (Reuters)
Barnier
Seeks to Widen EU Rules to Bar Libor Manipulation (Business Week)
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