Tag: banks

Major bank announces end of de-banking policies on guns and political affiliation

After years of criticism from the right about unfair “de-banking” practices, a major U.S. bank announced the end of the policy as it relates to political affiliation and gun sales.

Citigroup announced that they changed their firearms policies, which had been instituted after the heinous 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

“We appreciate the concerns that are being raised regarding ‘fair access’ to banking services, and we are following regulatory developments, recent executive orders and federal legislation that impact this area,” the bank said in a statement.

The statement said Citigroup had updated its employee code of conduct to ensure that no one was discriminated against on the basis of their political affiliation.

Among those who claimed they were the targets of political de-banking were first lady Melania Trump and Eric Trump, who said the Trump Organization had been negatively affected.

In October, the first lady recalled in an interview the shock she felt on finding out a bank had “suddenly informed me they will not be able to do business with me anymore.”

She also said that a university returned her money when she tried to contribute to a philanthropic effort to fund scholarships for foster kids.

“They didn’t want to do business with me because of political affiliation, my political beliefs,” she added.

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Planning to withdraw cash in Spain? You could now face a €150,000 fine

Thinking of pulling out a large amount of cash from your bank account in Spain? A new rule is now in force — and ignoring it could cost you dearly.

New rules in Spain: cash withdrawals over €3,000 under strict control

From now on, anyone withdrawing €3,000 or more from a Spanish bank must notify the Agencia Tributaria (Spain’s tax agency) in advance. If you’re planning to take out €100,000 or more, you’ll need to give at least 72 hours’ notice. For smaller sums over €3,000, a 24-hour notification is mandatory.

The warning must be filed through the tax agency’s official website using a digital certificate, Cl@ve PIN, or electronic ID card. You’ll receive a receipt that must be shown at the bank when withdrawing your cash.

Fail to notify? You risk a fine between 1 per cent and 10 per cent of the amount withdrawn — starting at €600 and climbing up to a massive €150,000, depending on the seriousness of the violation.

Banks are now required to block withdrawals if they detect missing paperwork, and must report suspicious transactions to the authorities, even if amounts are repeatedly just under the threshold.

Spain steps up fight against tax fraud and money laundering

This tough new measure is part of a wider strategy to crack down on tax fraud, money laundering and terrorism financing.
Authorities say that cash remains a key tool for illegal activities, making tighter monitoring essential.

Interestingly, it’s not just massive withdrawals that will raise red flags.
Even frequent small withdrawals — say, €800 or €900 at a time — could draw unwanted attention if not properly justified.
The message from the Spanish government is clear: every move involving large sums of cash must now be fully traceable.

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RED FLAG: Carney called to freeze Freedom Trucker’s bank accounts, said protesters were ‘seditious’

An unearthed op-ed from February 2022 by Mark Carney provides Canadians with insight into how the new prime minister views the rights of private citizens.

In the wake of the Freedom Convoy protests that gripped Ottawa, Carney, one week into the protests and just before the use of the Emergencies Act by then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, made it clear that he was in favor of freezing the bank accounts of Canadians, cutting funding to the protest, and even calling the movement “seditious” without evidence. Carney declared that those who donated to the protest were “funding sedition” and referred to the organizers’ actions as “blatant treachery.”

One has to wonder if it was Carney who came up with the idea to freeze the accounts, as he had served as an advisor to the prime minister at this time.

He described balloon bouncy castles and a grassroots, peaceful movement as “dangerous infrastructure” that was being “reinforced” by those funding the movement.

Carney wrote: “On the first weekend, many Canadians who joined the demonstrations undoubtedly had peaceful objectives. Tired as we all are with unprecedented disruptions over the past two years, it’s understandable that many would want to come to Ottawa to protest. It’s a free country, and everyone should be able to express their opinions free of interference from the state, just as the press should be able to report without fear of harassment or intimidation.

“But now, in its second week, no one should have any doubt. This is sedition. That’s a word I never thought I’d use in Canada. It means ‘incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.’”

Carney, perhaps drawing on his background in global finance, framed the convoy’s actions not as an expression of public dissent but as a direct attack on democracy. By writing, “You are funding sedition,” he bluntly told the public that any support—financial or otherwise—for the protests was an endorsement of an attempt to undermine the authority of a democratically elected government.

What followed was the freezing of bank accounts by the RCMP, in line with the emergency measures enacted by the Trudeau administration to quell the protests. A series of financial institutions, under pressure from government orders, complied by suspending the accounts of anyone linked to the convoy. This move caught the attention of international figures, including podcaster Joe Rogan, who cited it as an example of rights being “lost” in Canada.

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3 Shocking Truths Most People Don’t Know About Money In Bank Accounts…

Henry Ford once astutely observed that a revolution would occur overnight if people truly understood the banking and monetary system.

That’s because modern banking is an elaborate illusion—one that lulls people into a false sense of security… until it’s too late.

Large banks can fail within hours, and life savings can vanish overnight.

The US banking system is particularly vulnerable.

So, why do so many people place their confidence—and life savings—into such a fragile system?

It’s because they don’t understand three fundamental truths about modern banking:

#1. The money isn’t yours.

#2. The money isn’t actually there.

#3. The money isn’t really money.

Truth #1: The Money Isn’t Yours

Many people are shocked to learn they don’t actually own the money in their bank accounts.

Once you deposit money, it’s no longer your personal property—it legally belongs to the bank. And they can do whatever they want with it.

What you do own is simply a promise from the bank—an IOU—to pay you back.

In reality, depositing money is the same as giving the bank an unsecured loan, often with little or no interest to compensate you for the risk.

It’s a fantastic deal for the bank—and a terrible one for you.

That’s why a bank deposit is not the same as cash in hand. Yet most people wrongly treat the two as equivalent.

Worse, banks can freeze “your” money at the push of a button, often for vague or arbitrary reasons.

Maybe you bought something the bank didn’t like. Or perhaps you said something “politically incorrect” on social media. Don’t be surprised if your account gets frozen—or worse.

Take PayPal, for example. They once floated the idea of charging users $2,500 for spreading so-called “misinformation.”

Expect to see more of this behavior from banks and financial institutions in the future.

Because if your money can be frozen or seized on a whim… it was never really yours to begin with.

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House votes to overturn Biden-era rule limiting bank overdraft fees to $5, sends to Trump to sign

The House voted Wednesday to overturn a rule that would have limited bank overdraft fees to $5, following the Senate in moving to dismantle the regulation that the Biden administration had estimated would save consumers billions of dollars.

The resolution killing the rule, which passed the House 217-211, will now head to the White House for President Donald Trump’s signature. Republicans argued that the “disastrous” regulation issued in the final days of President Joe Biden’s term would have forced banks to stop offering overdraft protection altogether and made it harder for Americans to access credit.

“Competition and innovation, not government-mandated price caps, remain the best way to ensure consumers have access to affordable financial products and services,” said Arkansas Rep. French Hill, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Currently, the nation’s biggest banks take in roughly $8 billion in the charges every year, according to data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and bank public records. Right now, there is no cap on the overdraft fees that banks can legally charge.

Banks and banking groups had previously sued over the rule, arguing that it would have led to consumers leaning on worse, less-regulated services. Republicans voted to undo the regulation under the Congressional Review Act, a 1996 law that allows Congress to reverse recently adopted rules.

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Irish Government Freezes Christian Teacher’s Bank Account After He Refused to Use Gender-Neutral Pronouns

The Irish government has frozen the bank account of an Irish teacher after his continued refusal to use gender-neutral pronouns for a student at Wilson’s Hospital School. Enoch Burke, who has spent more than 500 days in jail for refusing to comply with a court order, also had his salary payments halted.

Burke attempted to withdraw funds from his Bank of Ireland account last week but found that he was unable to access his money. The account reportedly holds over €40,000—his personal savings from years of work. The Irish government and courts have frozen these funds and are set to seize them next week.

Burke was previously jailed for contempt of court after refusing to comply with an injunction barring him from entering Wilson’s Hospital School, where he had been suspended following a dispute over the use of transgender pronouns.

The freezing of his bank account marks an unprecedented escalation in the legal battle. Burke maintains that he was upholding the Christian ethos of his school and acting according to his beliefs. The Irish courts have ruled against him at multiple stages, leading to fines, jail time, and now the freezing of his assets.

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Canadian Banks Linked To Chinese Fentanyl Laundering Risk US Treasury Sanctions After Cartel Terror Designation

In an explosive interview with The Bureau’s Sam Cooper, David Asher – a former senior U.S. State Department official with close ties to the Trump administration’s financial and national security apparatus—issued a stark warning: Canadian banks could soon face a “new universe” of regulatory scrutiny from the U.S. Treasury. This follows the formal designation of Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa group, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). According to Asher, the command-and-control structure for laundering proceeds from synthetic narcotics—produced using Chinese precursor chemicals—is largely orchestrated by Chinese triads operating out of Canada.

Asher warned that these transnational crime gang nexus seriously threatens both U.S. national security and the stability of the North American financial system. 

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19 Reasons Why the Federal Reserve Is at the Heart of Our Economic Problems

Most Americans have absolutely no idea how we got into the mess that we are in today.  The reason why the U.S. government is 36 trillion dollars in debt and our society as a whole is 102 trillion dollars in debt is because the system is performing exactly as it was designed.  We have a system that was literally designed to create colossal amounts of debt.  But if you ask most Americans about this, they cannot tell you what the Federal Reserve is or why it is at the heart of our economic problems.  When Americans get into discussions about the economy, most of them still blame either the Democrats or the Republicans for our rapidly growing economic problems.  But the truth is that the institution with the most power over our economic system is the Federal Reserve.  So exactly what is the Federal Reserve?  Most people would say that it is an agency of the federal government.  But that is not entirely accurate.  In fact, the Federal Reserve itself has argued in court that it is not an agency of the federal government.   The truth is that the Federal Reserve is a privately-owned banking cartel that has been given a perpetual monopoly over our monetary system by the U.S. Congress.  This privately-owned central bank has been destroying the value of the U.S. dollar for decades, it has run our economy into the ground, and it has driven the U.S. government to the brink of bankruptcy.  The Federal Reserve operates in great secrecy  and it acts as if it is not accountable to the American people.  Yet the decisions that the Federal Reserve makes have a dramatic impact on the lives of every single American citizen.

If you really want to understand what is causing our economic problems, it is absolutely crucial that you understand exactly what the Federal Reserve is and how it is systematically destroying our economy.  Once you understand the truth about the Federal Reserve, you will view economic issues a whole lot differently.

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Eco-Fascist Mark Carney is Trying to Control the World Through Green Finance

Carney wrote an article in the Guardian published on 17 April 2019, “If some companies and industries fail to adapt to this new [anti-carbon] world, they will fail to exist.”

So enamoured of his own phrase, he repeated it five months later in his UN Climate Action Summit speech on 23 September 2019: “Firms that align their business models to the transition to a net zero [carbon] world will be rewarded handsomely. Those that fail to adapt will cease to exist.”

He also told the Climate Action Summit that all investments, at least all energy-related investments, will have to become green to be permitted – one of “50 shades of green,” as he put it.

On 22 September 2019, the day before the Climate Action Summit, he gave a speech during what law firm Lathan & Watkins referred to as an “insurance industry event” in which Carney said: “Changes in climate policies, technologies and physical risks in the transition to a net zero world will prompt reassessments of the value of virtually every asset. The financial system will reward companies that adjust and punish those who don’t.”

At this point, it’s worth recalling that Carney, in his opening speech at the City of London’s 2020 Green Horizon Summit, said that total net zero transition represents “the greatest commercial opportunity of our time” and “our objective for COP26 is to build the framework so that every financial decision can take climate change into account.”

Every financial decision means EVERY financial decision. Carney has led the campaign for a green digital crypto-currency to replace the US dollar. Since his announcement of this crypto plan on 22 August 2019, the Bank of Canada quickly fell into line declaring its support of the agenda.

Carney’s colleagues in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development amplified this message a couple of months later saying:

“What is needed is a Global Green New Deal that combines environmental recovery, financial stability and economic justice through massive public investment in decarbonising our energy, transportation and food systems while guaranteeing jobs for displaced workers and supporting low carbon growth paths in developing countries… through the transfer of appropriate technologies”.

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Brookfield’s Deep Ties To Chinese Land, Loans & Green Deals

A review of corporate documents reveals that Brookfield—the influential $900 billion Canadian investment fund from which Liberal Prime Minister-to-be Mark Carney stepped away from in order to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s leader—maintains over $3 billion in politically sensitive investments with Chinese state-linked real estate and energy companies, along with a substantial offshore banking presence. One of its major real estate ventures, a $750 million entry into high-end Shanghai commercial property in 2013, involved a Hong Kong tycoon affiliated with the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)—which the CIA labels a central “united front” entity of Beijing.

The investment occurred while China’s real estate bubble was peaking. Last year, as China’s market crashed, and vacancies soared in Shanghai, Brookfield under Carney secured hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from the Bank of China to refinance its Shanghai commercial land holdings. According to The Bureau’s research, this emergency loan came a decade after Carney, serving as Governor of the Bank of England, aided Beijing by facilitating the Bank of China’s expansion of its global financial footprint. In his 2013 speech, UK at the Heart of Renewed Globalisation, Carney announced that “The Bank of England [has] signed an agreement with the People’s Bank of China … Helping the internationalisation of the Renminbi is a global good.”

While Brookfield had already amassed well over three billion dollars in estimated investments and managed assets in China before Carney took the helm in 2020, research indicates that he played a role in expanding the firm’s footprint there. This included refinancing its 2019 acquisition of Shanghai commercial real estate—initially valued at approximately CAD $2 billion at the peak of China’s real estate bubble—though its actual worth was likely significantly lower when Brookfield secured nearly $300 million at four percent interest from the Bank of China last year.

Given that his history of deep investment in China—if not his holdings, reportedly now placed in a blind trust—could potentially color Carney’s plans for Canada, these developments are especially notable as a trade war between the United States and Beijing escalates.

Carney and his cabinet members will be sworn in at 11 a.m. this morning at Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s official residence. The timing of Carney’s appointment as prime minister adds urgency to ongoing questions about potential conflicts of interest, with matters further complicated by reports that his first international meeting will be with European leaders next week—who are themselves grappling with sweeping tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration.

Brookfield’s substantial investments in China—directly or indirectly involving state-linked entities—include hundreds of millions in renewable energy assets acquired through TerraForm Global in 2017, a $750 million real estate stake in China Xintiandi since 2013, a 2019 Shanghai land purchase valued at approximately $2 billion, a $100 million joint venture with GLP for solar projects launched in 2018, and reported plans to raise hundreds of millions more in both real estate and China green sector investments.

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