Corruption in ICE
There have been many legal problems in the history of ICE. Even from its beginning as an energy futures company it was looked at as a company that pushed the limits and never backed down from a law suit. ICE has taken on numerous government agencies and continually is under SEC and FCTC scrutiny. We will list a few items of interest that show that ICE is certainly not a company that minds bending the rules for economic gain.
2015: Nationwide litigation in which pension funds and other investors accused ICE of rigging markets to benefit high-frequency traders. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan said federal law affords exchanges “absolute immunity” from the plaintiffs’ key claims, including the creation of “complex order types” and proprietary data feeds that can benefit rapid traders, because of their status as a self-regulatory organization.
2013: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether high-frequency traders are routinely distorting stock and futures markets by illegally acting as buyer and seller in the same transactions. Such transactions, known as wash trades, are banned by U.S. law because they can feed false information into the market and be used to manipulate prices. Intentionally taking both sides of a trade can minimize financial risk for the trading firm while potentially creating a false impression of higher volume in the market. The investigation is focused on suspected wash trades by high-speed firms in futures contracts tied to the value of crude oil, precious metals, agricultural commodities and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index.
2011: NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. and Intercontinental Exchange Inc. abandoned their joint bid to acquire NYSE Euronext after the Department of Justice informed the companies that it would file an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal. The department said that the acquisition would have substantially eliminated competition for corporate stock listing services, opening and closing stock auction services, off-exchange stock trade reporting services and real-time proprietary equity data products. The acquisition would have removed incentives for competitive pricing, high quality of service, and innovation in the listing, trading and data services these exchange operators provide to the investing public and to new and established companies that need access to U.S. stock markets. Subsequently, ICE bought NYSE Euronext.
2015: Investigators also are looking at the two primary exchange operators that handle wash trades, CME Group Inc. and Intercontinental Exchange Inc. Securities and Exchange Commission investigators have been probing whether stock exchanges have provided certain advantages to sophisticated firms that allow them to trade at the expense of regular investors. The scale of the suspicious trading is very large.
2016: ICE is setting up a clash with customers with its plan to generate income by licensing patents and boosting market-data fees. It recently more than doubled the cost of some subscriptions to data feeds that carry vital information on the price of stocks. Last year, ICE also boosted rates for using a critical interest-rate benchmark called Libor. Their double-digit price increases dramatically increase trading costs, hurt liquidity and ultimately threaten the U.S. markets they are supposed to empower.
ICE Owns Exchanges, Clearing Houses, Technology, Data Services
- ICE Futures U.S. is the second largest derivatives exchange in the United States
- ICE Futures Europe
- ICE Futures Canada
- ICE Futures Singapore, formerly the Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- ICE Endex is an energy exchange in continental Europe, providing European natural gas and power markets
- New York Stock Exchange
- NYSE MKT is the counterpart securities exchange to NYSE
- NYSE Arca is a fully electronic marketplace
- NYSE Bonds is a bond market,
- NYSE Arca Options is a “hybrid market” which offers both electronic and floor executed options
- NYSE Amex Options is a US options exchange
- ICE OTC Energy is the internet-based global OTC energy market
- Creditex a credit derivatives brokerage
- ICE Swap Trade is a cleared swap execution facility
- ICE Clear U.S. is a Derivatives Clearing Organization
- ICE Clear Europe serves the futures markets of ICE Futures Europe and ICE’s OTC energy markets
- ICE Clear Canada serves the markets of ICE Futures Canada
- ICE Clear Singapore is the clearing facility for ICE Futures Singapore
- ICE Clear Credit formerly, ICE Trust U.S. is a U.S. based credit default swap clearing house
- The Clearing Corporation was established in 1925 as the nation’s first independent futures clearing house
- ICE Clear Netherlands is ICE’s continental European clearing house
- ICE Benchmark Administration or IBA is the administrator of three key global benchmarks:
- ICE LIBOR or London Interbank Offered Rate, (formerly the BBA LIBOR)
- ICE Swap Rate
- LBMA Gold Price, ICE was given authority to oversee the London Bullion Market Association Gold Fixing Price, established in 1919.
ICE History of Acquisitions & Transactions
- 2001: International Petroleum Exchange, renamed ICE Futures Europe.
- 2007: New York Board of Trade and clearing house, renamed ICE Futures U.S.
- 2007: ChemConnect‘s markets for natural gas liquids propane and other chemicals.
- 2007: Winnipeg Commodity Exchange renamed ICE Futures Canada.
- 2007: Chatham Energy, an OTC energy brokerage firm.
- 2008: YellowJacket Software a peer-to-peer instant messaging trading renamed ICE Chat.
- 2008: Creditex Group, Inc., a credit default swaps processor in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
- 2009: The Clearing Corporation clearing services for CDS rebranded as ICE Clear Credit.
- 2010: Climate Exchange plc including the Chicago and European Climate Exchange.
- 2011: Cetip, Brazil’s largest clearinghouse.
- 2012: WhenTech, a technology focused on options valuation, analytics and risk management.
- 2013: APX-Endex’s derivatives renamed the company ICE Endex. It is traded on the
- ICE Trading Platform and cleared on ICE Clear Europe.
- 2013: NYSE Euronext for $11 billion.
- 2014: Singapore Mercantile Exchange, including SMX Clearing Corporation (SMXCC) renamed ICE Futures Singapore and the clearing house, ICE Clear Singapore.
- 2014: Algo Technologies Ltd. technology to serve as the new NYSE matching engine.
- 2014: ICE acquired U.S. patent rights relating to automated trading strategies that make price and trading decisions based on market price information.
- 2014: SuperDerivatives, an Israeli financial technology group.
- 2014: True Office, a compliance education company.
- 2014: Holland Clearing House renamed ICE Clear Netherlands.
- 2015: Trayport, an electronic energy trading platform.
- 2015: Interactive Data Corp. for pricing and data on interest rate products.
- 2016: McGraw Hill Financial, Standard & Poor’s Evaluations, a fixed income evaluation pricing service and Credit Market Analysis.
- 2016: MERS – Mortgage Electronic Registration System
Who Owns ICE?
When you look at this list below, it is good to compare it with the list in our articles entitled:
Who Owns the Military Industrial Complex: Part 1
Who Owns the Military Industrial Complex: Part 2
You will note that many of the shareholders of ICE are the same culprits who own the Federal Reserve System and its member banks, the companies who generally get the military contracts, and the private corporations who actually control commerce in America.
Please note that the institutional holders and the mutual fund holders of ICE are pretty much the same companies. In other words, as ICE grows, there seems to be infinite money to buy other companies for huge sums of money and the same people always benefit. Where does this capital come from? To answer this, you must see who the shareholders of the companies listed below are. When you do, it seems like a hall of mirrors. The same 25 companies appear to own ICE and most of the rest of the banking and financial investments in America, which are all tied to Wall Street and the original investors in the corrupt Federal Reserve System and its central banks.
Institutional Holders of ICE:
- Price (T.Rowe) Associates Inc
- Vanguard Group, Inc.
- State Street Corporation
- BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A.
- Bank of New York Mellon
- Wellington Management Company, LLP
- JP Morgan Chase & Company
- Jackson Square Partners, LLC
- Carmignac Gestion
- Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
- Mutual Fund Holders of ICE:
- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
- Price (T.Rowe) Growth Stock Fund Inc.
- Price (T.Rowe) Blue Chip Growth Fund Inc.
- Vanguard 500 Index Fund
- Vanguard Institutional Index Fund-Institutional Index Fund
- SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
- Price (T.Rowe) Mid Cap Growth Fund
- MFS Series Trust II-MFS Growth Fund
- Price (T.Rowe) Institutional Large Cap Growth Fund
- Vanguard/Windsor II
Institutional Holders of CME Group, Inc.
- Capital World Investors
- Vanguard Group, Inc. (The)
- State Street Corporation
- Capital International Investors
- BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A.
- BlackRock Fund Advisors
- JP Morgan Chase & Company
- FMR, LLC
- Edgewood Management Company
- Price (T.Rowe) Associates Inc
ICE Trust and Credit Default Swaps
A credit default swap (CDS) is essentially an insurance policy – and a hedge – against corporate default. By 2007, the market had grown to $70 trillion for these over-the-counter, unregulated swaps often traded by parties with no control over the underlying debt. Insurance giant American International Group’s exposure to the CDS market brought the company to its knees, leading to a taxpayer bailout. The failure of Lehman Brothers investment bank also occurred at least partly because of the bank’s exposure to CDS contracts.
Since it came online, ICE Trust has dominated the market for CDS trades and recently announced it had cleared $10 trillion in CDS obligations. The company grew out of ICE’s 2008 acquisition of The Clearing Corp., a financial derivatives clearinghouse with technology to monitor CDS trades. The Clearing Corp. was partly owned by ten major banks, which kept a stake in the new ICE Trust entity. Those banks – which now number 14 and include Goldman Sachs & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Bank of America – share in half of ICE Trust’s profits. ICE Trust is a virtual monopoly in CDS trading, along with its cozy relationship with member banks. ICE is a dealers-only club with high margin requirements. ICE Trust requires all clearing members to have at least $5 billion in capital to join.
Is ICE a Monopoly?
Many, including the SEC, have suggested that ICE owning the NYSE is simply too inbred and smacks of collusion and insider trading. ICE uses the DTCC, its own company to clear its own trades on its own stock market exchange and signs all stock over to its partner company, Cede & Co. for safe holding. Again, these stocks now include the 80% of home mortgages held by ICE’s newest company, MERSCorp Holdings, Inc. Though this may not technically be a monopoly, it certainly breaks antitrust regulations.
The reason ICE will not be questioned for violating antitrust laws is that ICE is basically a government approved “self-regulating organization.” The SEC and FCTC do not have equipment sophisticated enough to monitor ICE’s activities. High speed trading is far beyond the U.S. governments computer programs.
KEY POINT: The fastest computer program wins in the game of stocks, bonds, mortgages, and especially derivatives.
Even though ICE’s corrupt history manipulating energy futures and the NYSE:ICE is bad, it is nothing compared to the dangerous practices it uses in the derivatives markets. ICE controls about 80% of world-wide derivative markets which amounts to approximately $780 trillion in OTC credit default swaps and other such financial instruments of mass destruction. Remember, that it was gambling with derivatives from subprime mortgage-backed securities that brought the housing market and Wall Street to its knees in 2008.
ICE is working at a maddening pace to amp up the amounts and do it all over again. This time Congress will not be in the position to bail them out as the American people will not be scammed twice in the same type of Ponzi scheme. If anyone is going to be bailed out this time, it will be We the People.
ICE has a near monopoly on both mortgages (through MERS) and derivatives through their futures exchanges throughout the world. We already know that ICE is corrupt and makes no excuses about it. Then can we trust ICE not to crash the markets again through insane gambling with derivatives amounting to $780 trillion? The answer is NO.
Patriots, the casino is on fire.
Now is the time to gather up your soon-to-be worthless fiat currency and e-stocks and e-bonds (casino chips), head to the cashier’s window to get real currency (physical silver, gold, blue stripped $100s), and get the heck out of the casino. The house cannot win if you aren’t playing anymore. And this is going to be one helluva fire.
Defeat the Globalist Casino House by Getting out of the Casino
We just gave you tons of info that you can research yourself to see how the markets and systems are rigged against you. But you can do something about it. Before we posted this article, we made sure we cashed out of the casino, just like many other Patriots have done and are doing.
By exiting the casino, one by one, Patriot by Patriot, we can prepare ourselves for the biggest financial crash of fiat currency ever in the history of mankind. You simply cannot beat the house.
We are not financial advisors so only do what resonates with you and your research.
Here are some suggestions, ranging from things you can do immediately to others that are more sustainable:
Take your stocks, bonds, treasuries out of the market and buy tangible assets – real estate, gold and silver coins, new “blue” $100 bills, etc. Remember you want to hold these assets literally in your possession. If you can’t afford much, then at least go to a local coin shop and buy U. S. minted coins or go to the bank and trade in your old fiat $100 bills for the new blue bills.
Cash in any financial instrument tied to the stock market: 401K’s, annuities, insurance policies, etc. You might consider your local credit union to hold your cash util you can find real assets to purchase. Remember: their casino depends on your money being in play. Don’t play their game with their rules.
Never gamble with exchanges, especially futures exchanges that use credit default swap derivatives.
Put your money in local banks or credit unions that do not use fractional banking practices that involve the stock market.
Demand to see the title or deed on your home if you have a mortgage. If MERS is listed anywhere on the paperwork, demand to see the full paper trail of who has bought and sold the mortgage and its servicing. Do not pay any bank or institution that does not hold the title or deed. If necessary sue the lender claiming to “own” the mortgage, especially if there are attempts to foreclose on you.
Elect political officials who stand against the warlord bankers and brokers who are complicit with these “borderline” monopolies.
Spread the word by sharing this article with your own constituency so that they too may “boycott” these institutions and not be fooled by this huge Ponzi scheme.
Write to your elected officials complaining about these violations of U.S. antitrust laws and your desire to close MERS, DTCC, and its corrupt methods of “holding” (stealing) American’s mortgages and stocks.
Demand to have “paper copies” of every financial exchange. Refuse to allow the switch to e-titles, e-stocks, e-bonds and the like.
Become aware of who really owns and controls America so you cannot be fooled by official brainwashing. We have written many articles on this subject—just put “Anonymous Patriots” into the search engine for www.themillenniumreport.com to see everything we have written this year.
If you are buying a house, use local bankers who don’t sell your mortgage to other banks.
Study to become aware of what is really behind the economy of America. Identify the culprits and spread the word.
Stand up and rebel against the system from the inside. Many other Patriots are sabotaging the works of evil and greedy cabals that wish to gain power by dominating others. In every federal agency we hear of new whistleblowers and others who refuse to comply with the orders of those “above.” If every one of us did what we could to rebel against the global take-over of the world, the 1% would have no choice but flee to their underground bunkers.
QUESTION EVERYTHING. Question why things are the way they are and implement ways you can stop financial and political evil that you see in the world. Every effort—small or great—gives strength to our army of Patriots.
Continue to pepper the new Fourth Estate (independent internet communications) with new revelations of the machinations of the Globalists who are trying to divide and conquer America.
Go out and vote for politicians who stand up to the Globalist’s agenda of creating a New World Order through corrupt United Nation’s agencies like the IMF, BIS and World Bank. Demand that America withdraw from the United Nations and all sister organizations.
Demand the closure of the Federal Reserve System and its central banks. The FED is a private corporation that needs to go bankrupt to wipe out the fake debt it created in the People’s name.
Demand that all gambling in private clubs like the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and CME come to an end.
Demand that exchanges pay taxes when trades are made.
Stop all trading longs and shorts, derivatives, mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps, and any other financial vehicle created for short-term profits.
Stop all fractional trading.
Demand that ICE sell MERS due to a clear conflict of interest, insider trading practices, and collusion – not to mention antitrust laws and the fact that ICE is nearly a monopoly.
Put an end to MERS altogether and go back to the only legal form of mortgage title filing – in the county where the house is located. This would give back $40 billion a year to American communities.
Put an end to Cede & Co. as the nominee for all stock trades on the NYSE:ICE. This practice is too dangerous and puts too much power in the hands of the owner of the NYSE:ICE.
Put an end to all credit default swaps and the trading of derivatives world-wide. This is simply gambling with amounts that could collapse the world’s economy.
Put an end to all “dark markets” that create hidden and illegal trades of derivatives and other financial tools.
Create a new system of stock exchange that is not high speed and actually goes back to the practice of taking three days to finish any trade. Companies themselves should sell their own stock and issue paper, not digital impulses. Actually, there is no need for any stock market, a subject we will be writing about soon.
Prosecute the warlord bankers and brokers who now only get their hands slapped and fines administered. Banks have had to pay hundreds of billions in fines, but no one goes to jail. Time to put the banksters in prison.
Prosecute all bankers and brokers who illegally moved money out of America and into offshore tax havens – even if they are located in Delaware, Nevada or New York City.
End the monopoly of Wall Street, the warlord bankers, and the corrupt brokers who have been controlling America’s economy.
Eradicate foreign ownership of American corporations that service by products or services anything for the U. S. military.
Demand that the Treasury take over paper money printing backed by precious metals and take control of U.S. Bonds.
Dissolve the laws that grant corporations more rights that American citizens.
Defend our rights as Americans to resist foreign intervention and manipulation in our country’s economic affairs that try to put international laws ahead of U. S. laws.
Originally posted at: http://stateofthenation2012.com/
Chronological History of Events Related to the Stock Market
