Clearstream 1227223 223505778 2008-07-04T10:45:07Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other '''Clearstream Banking S.A.''' (CB) is the [[clearing (finance)|clearing]] division based in [[Luxembourg]], of [[Deutsche Börse]]. It was created in January 2000 through the [[merger]] of [[Cedel|Cedel International]] and Deutsche Börse Clearing, part of the [[Deutsche Börse Group]], which owns the [[Frankfurt Stock Exchange]]. Cedel, established in 1971, specialized in clearance and [[Settlement (finance)| settlement]]. In 1996 it obtained a [[bank]] license. In July 2002 Deutsche Börse purchased the remaining 50% of Clearstream International for €1.6 billion. Deutsche Börse's strategy is to be a [[vertical integration|vertical]] [[security (finance)|securities]] silo, providing facilities for the front and back ends of securities trading. By 2004 Clearstream contributed €114 million to Deutsche Börse's total [[Earnings before interest and taxes|Earnings Before Interest and Taxes]] (EBIT) of €452.6 million. It handled 50 million transactions, and was custodian of securities worth € 7,593 trillion. In ''Révélation$'' (2001), by [[investigative reporter]] [[Denis Robert]] and ex-Clearstream banker [[Ernest Backes]], Clearstream was accused of being an international platform for [[money laundering]] and [[tax evasion]] via an illegal system of secret accounts (the "Clearstream Affair"). In Spring 2004, a "Second Clearstream Affair" began, which attracted more attention in 2006. Peripheral to the primary Clearstream Affair, it accused several French political figures, industrial leaders, and members of the [[secret services]] of maintaining secret accounts at Clearstream, which allegedly were used to transfer [[kickbacks]] in a France–Taiwan frigates scandal. ==Accusations== In 2001, [[investigative reporter]] [[Denis Robert]] and [[Ernest Backes]], an executive at Cedel until May 1983, published a book, ''Revelation$''<ref>http://www.hound-dogs.com/cover_story/coverstory.htm </ref> in which they alleged Clearstream played a major part in the [[underground economy]], was a main platform for [[money laundering]] for hundreds of banks, and "operated hundreds of confidential [[accounts]] for banks so they could move money undetected," according to ''[[Business Week]]''.<ref name="BusinessWeek"> {{cite news|title=Europe Needs an Independent Settlement System|publisher=[[Business Week]] | date=June 4, 2001 | url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_23/b3735151.htm}} </ref> Backes and ''[[Le Figaro]]'' were sued by Clearstream and found guilty of [[libel]] on [[March 29]], [[2004]]. However, all financial demands made by Clearstream were rejected by the judges, who considered the information revealed to be "serious and cross-checked, absent of any animosity, and expressed with caution," and the case was due to be heard in Appeals Court in 2006. After the initiation of an investigation in [[Luxembourg]], on suspicion of money laundering, tax evasion, and other fraud, Clearstream's CEO, André Lussi, resigned ([[Clearstream#Suspension & investigation of Clearstream's CEO|See below]]). This enabled Deutsche Börse to purchase the remaining 50% of Clearstream International in July 2002. According to some, such as ''Business Week,'' Lussi had opposed such a takeover. Following the July 2004 anonymous revelations about secret personal accounts, allegedly maintained by important [[France|French]] political figures, [[Volker Potthoff]], a member of Deutsche Börse's board, was asked to conduct an audit and control mission regarding Clearstream. A long-time officer of the [[German Stock Exchange]] (aka Deutsche Börse), Potthof was surprised by what he found in Luxembourg, and proposed more stringent measures concerning the CSD's customers and the control of accounts. However, [[Jeffrey Tessler]], also a member of Deutsche Börse's board and the person there responsible for Clearstream, asked Pothoff to resign. Potthof departed in January 2006, and officially ceased his functions on [[June 30]], [[2006]].<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Klébert communique | date=April 27, 2006 | accessdate=2006-04-29 | publisher=[[Denis Robert]]'s blog | url=http://ladominationdumonde.blogspot.com/}} </ref> ==Clearing== Clearstream often has been described as a bank for banks, as it practices what is called ''[[clearing (finance)|financial clearing]]''. Basically, its duty is to record transactions between the accounts of different banks, and use that data to calculate the relative financial positions of banks with regard to each other. So a bank can just order a transaction between its own account and the other bank's account, in lieu of less secure methods such as carrying a case full of currency or securities around on the street; the bank merely transmits an order to Clearstream to credit/debit one of its own accounts and the other bank's account(s). This general system is in use between regular companies, governments, and banks around the world. The purpose of Clearstream is to [[value transfer system|facilitate money movements]] around the world, particularly by handling the resolution of sales of European [[stocks]] and [[Bond (finance)|bonds]], in which market Clearstream was a major player, with an estimated 40% [[market share]] until May 2004 - together with its competitor [[Euroclear]], the two firms settle 70% of European transactions.<ref name="BusinessWeek2"> {{cite news | title=Slugfest over Europe's Stock Exchanges | publisher=Business Week | date=November 19, 2001 | url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_47/b3758141.htm}} </ref> Furthermore, in January 2006, Clearstream was the 18th largest employer in Luxembourg<ref name="STATEC"> Luxembourg's 18th employer according to the official statistics office. {{cite news | title=Liste des principaux employeurs luxembourgeois classés par ordre de grandeur|publisher=[[Statec]]|date=[[2006-05-23]] | accessdate=2006-05-23 | url=http://www.statistiques.public.lu/fr/publications/thematiques/Entreprises/principal_employeurs/princip_employeurs_taille/PDF_princip_entreprises_taille.pdf | page=5}} </ref> Clearstream does not hold a monopoly in this market: [[Euroclear]], owned by the market, and [[SWIFT]] are competitors. However, SWIFT mainly assures [[Routing (finance)|routing]], while only Euroclear and Clearstream supply cross-border securities clearing and settlement services; Clearstream's quasi-[[monopoly]] is demonstrated by this [[European Union]] statement declaring that "Clearstream Banking AG is an unavoidable trader partner."<ref name="EU press release"> [http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/04/705&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en#fnB1 European Commission June 2, 2004 decision on Clearstream's infringement of competition rules, decision IP/04/705] </ref> Euroclear was created by [[JP Morgan]] in 1968 in [[Brussels]] (Belgium). By the end of 2000, JP Morgan had extricated itself from Euroclear, but JP Morgan still is one of the 120 international banks which own shares in Euroclear. In 2000, Euroclear processed 145 million transactions, dealing with a total of 100,000 billion euros.<ref> {{fr icon}} {{cite news|title=142 millions de transactions en 2000|publisher=[[Le Monde]] | date=June 1, 2001 | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_breve/1,13-0,37-707829,0.html}} </ref> === Eurodollars === Cedel (now Clearstream) and Euroclear were started to manage transfers of "[[eurodollars]]," U.S. currency kept in banks outside the [[United States]]. By the 1990s, the [[Federal Reserve]] estimated that about 2/3 of U.S. currency was held abroad as eurodollars. Cedel and Euroclear later expanded into handling transfers of stock titles and other [[financial instruments]]. In 1975, several big Italian and German banks wanted to centralize their [[accounting]], so other members of Cedel directly sent them transfers to the main branch. "The Cedel council of administration &mdash; its [[board of directors]] &mdash; authorized banks with multiple [[subsidiaries]] not to put all their accounts on the published list. Backes and Gérard Soisson, then Cedel's general manager, set up a system of non-published accounts (...) Requests for non-published accounts came from some banks that were not eligible, but Soisson turned them down," writes Komisar.<ref name="Komisar"> {{cite news|title=Offshore banking: the secret threat to America|publisher=[[Hound Dogs]] | date=2003 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://www.hound-dogs.com/cover_story/coverstory.htm}} (by investigative reporter [[Lucy Komisar]]) </ref> === "$1.5 trillion math errors" === '''''Business Week''''' said, in 2001, "Earlier this year, Clearstream, which handles the back-office paperwork for some 40% of European stock and bond trades, was found to have overstated its assets in custody by $1.5 trillion. (It has $6.5 trillion.) If Clearstream makes $1.5 trillion math errors, customers are understandably nervous&mdash;and some have moved to rival Euroclear."<ref name="BusinessWeek"/> According to investigative journalist [[Lucy Komisar]], Clearstream is audited by [[KPMG]], one of the largest global accounting firms. KPMG declared that it found "no evidence" to support the allegations made by Denis Robert and Ernest Backes, although its report was not made public. === Clearstream's dominant position === On [[June 2]], [[2004]], the [[European Commission]] found that "Clearstream Banking AG and its [[Holding company|parent company]] Clearstream International SA (“Clearstream”) infringed competition rules by refusing to supply cross-border securities clearing and settlement services, and by applying discriminatory prices. The Commission’s investigation revealed that Clearstream refused to supply Euroclear Bank SA ('Euroclear Bank') with certain clearing and settlement services, and applied discriminatory prices to the detriment of this customer." The decision states that "Clearstream refused to supply to Euroclear Bank clearing and settlement services for [[registered shares]] issued under [[Law of Germany|German law]]," underlining the "dominant position" of Clearstream since it "is the only final custodian of German securities kept in collective safe custody, which is the only significant form of custody today for securities traded. New entry into this activity is unrealistic for the foreseeable future. Therefore, Clearstream is an unavoidable trading partner." The Commission defined ''[[clearing (finance)|clearing]]'' and ''[[settlement (finance)|settlement]]'' as follows: :"Securities clearing and settlement are necessary steps for a securities trade to be completed. :''Clearing'' is the process by which the contractual obligations of the buyer and the seller are established. :''Settlement'' is the transfer of securities from the seller to the buyer and the transfer of funds from the buyer to the seller. (...) :Clearstream Banking AG is Germany's only ''[[Wertpapiersammelbank]]'' ([[Central Securities Depository]]). "The Commission considered that during the reference period concerned, 1997 through 2001, Clearstream held a dominant position for providing cross-border clearing and settlement services to intermediaries situated in other [[Member States]]. The investigation therefore focused on a specific cross-border market and the decision does not set out findings that go beyond that relevant market." The Commission underlined in a note that, "Central Securities Depositories hold securities and enable securities transactions to be processed through [[book entry]]. In its home country, the Central Securities Depository provides processing services for trades of those securities that it holds in final custody. It can also offer processing services as an intermediary in cross-border clearing and settlement, where the primary deposit of securities is in another country."<ref name="EU press release"/> ==Daewoo shutdown inquiries== After [[Daewoo]] was split apart in 2000, Clearstream became the subject of two commissions of inquiry in [[Lorraine (région)|Lorraine]] (France) conducted before the [[French parliament]] and [[European parliament]]. == The Clearstream Affair == ==="The greatest financial scandal in Luxembourg"=== In 2001, co-authors [[Denis Robert]] and [[Ernest Backes]] released a book called "''Révélation$''," followed by Robert's "''La Boîte Noire''," describing what has been named the "greatest financial scandal in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg."<ref> [http://info.france2.fr/eco/6442364-fr.php France 2] ''URL accessed in January 2006'' </ref> The little publicity their works received came only in the French media, and even there publicity was minimal. In a number of interviews, Denis Robert accused ''"[[Le Monde]]"'' of deliberately suppressing articles and reviews of his book, suggesting that financial links between "''Le Monde''" and ''Deutsche Börse'' (which now owns 100% of Clearstream's shares) were the cause of this censorship. Denis Robert described Clearstream as a huge money laundering and tax evasion machine, used by major banks, [[shell companies]], and [[organized crime]] all over the world. Clearstream's alleged criminal activities used an automated system of unpublished accounts, revealed to Denis Robert by Ernest Backes and Régis Hempel, a vice president of Clearstream who, as a computer engineer, had helped set up the system in the 1970s. ===Banco Ambrosiano scandal === {{See|Banco Ambrosiano}} By 1980, Ernest Backes had become Cedel's #3, in charge of relations with clients, but he was fired in May 1983, allegedly because he "knew too much about the [[Banco Ambrosiano|Ambrosiano scandal]]," one of Italy's major political scandals. Two months after his dismissal, [[Gérard Soisson]] was found dead in [[Corsica]]. The Banco Ambrosiano, allegedly involved in money-laundering for the [[Mafia]] and owned in majority by the [[Vatican Bank]], collapsed in 1982. The bank "laundered drugs- and arms-trafficking money for the Italian and American Mafias, and in the 1980s it channeled Vatican money to the [[Contra (guerrillas)|Contras]] in [[Nicaragua]] and to [[Solidarnosc|Solidarity]] in [[Poland]]", according to Komisar. In 2005 the Italian justice system reopened its investigation of the murder of [[Roberto Calvi]], Ambrosiano's chairman; it has requested the support of Ernest Backes, and will investigate Gerard Soisson's death, according to Komisar. [[Licio Gelli]], headmaster of [[Propaganda Due]] [[masonic lodge]] (aka P2, it was involved in [[Gladio]]'s "[[strategy of tension]]" starting from the 1969 [[Piazza Fontana bombing]]), and mafiosi [[Giuseppe Calo]], are being prosecuted for the assassination of [[Roberto Calvi]]. Ernest Backes explained: ''"When Soisson died, the Ambrosiano affair wasn't yet known as a scandal. (After it was revealed) I realized that Soisson and I had been at the crossroads. We moved all those transactions known later in the scandal to [[Lima]] and other branches. Nobody even knew there was a Banco Ambrosiano branch in Lima and other [[South American]] countries."''<ref name="Komisar"/> === Secret accounts and the workings of 21st century economics === Gérard Soisson, murdered in July 1983, was the person who authorized each non-published account, "which would be known only by some insiders, including the auditors and members of the council of administration." "With Soisson out of the way, there was nothing to stop the abuse of the system," wrote Lucy Komisar. Whereas Soisson had refused numerous requests to open non-published accounts (from such institutions as [[Chase Manhattan]] in [[New York]], [[Chemical Bank]] of [[London]] and numerous subsidiaries of [[Citibank]]), Cedel opened hundreds of non-published accounts &mdash; all of them irregular &mdash; especially after the arrival of CEO [[André Lussi]] in 1990. No longer were they just sub-accounts of officially listed accounts, Backes charges. Some were for banks that were not subsidiaries or even official members of Cedel. At the start of 1995, Cedel had more than 2,200 published accounts. But in reality, according to documents obtained by Backes, Cedel that year managed more than 4,200 accounts," leading to an alleged total of "2,000 unpublished accounts in 1995." Régis Hempel, vice president of Cedel, explained to the Paris ''[[Justice in France|Tribunal de Grande Instance]]'' how the system of unpublished accounts was generalized, allowing all sorts of illegal operations; Clearstream, during the lawsuit against Denis Robert for "defamation", did not deny it (''[[Clearstream#Various suits against Denis Roberts|See below]]''). According to Hempel, some dormant accounts were activated for special transactions: "Such an account can be opened in the morning, used for a transaction, and closed to appear as delisted in the evening,", Backes explains. "Only the guy who gave the order to open it in the morning knows about the transaction. An investigator or auditor would not look at such an account because it doesn't appear on the accounts list." Among the major companies with unpublished accounts, Backes discovered the [[Shell Petroleum Group]] and the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] agricultural firm [[Unilever]], one of whose accounts was associated with [[Goldman Sachs]]. "By 2000," according to Backes, "Clearstream managed about 15,000 accounts (of which half were non-published) for 2,500 clients in 105 countries; most of the [[Investment company|investment companies]], banks and their subsidiaries are from Western Europe and the United States. Most of the new non-published accounts were in [[Offshoring|offshore]] [[tax havens]]. The banks with the most non-published accounts are [[Banque Internationale de Luxembourg]] (309), [[Citibank]] (271) and [[Barclays]] (200) (...) On the April 2000 Clearstream list, there are 37 [[Colombian]] accounts, of which only three are published."<ref name="Komisar"/> German multinational [[Siemens AG|Siemens]] had four non-published accounts, while [[Crédit Lyonnais]] bank had 23 and Japanese [[Nomura]] 12.<ref name="Terrorist"> {{cite news|title=Tracking Terrorist Money - 'Too Hot for US to handle?' by Lucy Komisar|publisher=[[Pacific News Service]] | date=October 4, 2001 | url=http://www.webcom.com/hrin/magazine/money.html}} </ref> Although an investigation of Clearstream was begun in [[France]] and Luxembourg, and a [[European Parliament]]ary report on money laundering denounced Luxembourg's financial activities, Clearstream continued to use unpublished accounts. According to Denis Robert, in 2001, a year before being bought back by Deutsche Börse, Clearstream managed 330,000 unpublished accounts.<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=L'Affaire Clearstream (la vraie) | date=April 16, 2006 | publisher=Denis Robert's blog | accessdate=2006-04-29 | url=http://ladominationdumonde.blogspot.com/}} </ref> This system of unpublished accounts made it possible to hide money for the purposes of [[money laundering]], [[tax evasion]], accounting manipulation, and fraud. It allegedly was used for such purposes by a large variety of banks, among them Columbian banks linked to the [[drug cartel]], [[Bank Menatep]] involved in the "[[Kremlingate]]," and the French [[Credit Lyonnais]] involved in a major crash in the 1990s. The money from the [[La Fayette class frigate#Taiwan frigates scandal|Taiwan frigates scandal]] allegedly transited via Clearstream, as did the money from [[Elf Aquitaine|Elf oil company]], two major financial scandals which shook France in the 1990s. Clearstream secret accounts also allegedly held part of the [[Argentine debt restructuring|Argentine debt]] which led to the [[December 2001 riots (Argentina)|December 2001 riots]]. Numerous unpublished accounts were owned by Argentine companies and by [[Citibank]], which managed a large part of Argentine funds. Another revelation of Denis Robert's book is that, according to the [[May 9]], [[2001]] op-ed by [[Bernard Bertossa]], [[attorney general]] in [[Geneva]], Benoît Dejemeppe, king's attorney in [[Brussels]] (''procureur du roi''), [[Eva Joly]], [[investigative magistrate]] in Paris, [[Jean de Maillard]], [[magistrate]] in [[Blois]] and [[Renaud van Ruymbeke]], a judge in Paris, entitled "The 'black boxes' of financial globalization," is that: <blockquote>"The chaos of financial flux is only an appearance. Of course, [[offshore banks]] and [[tax haven]]s perfectly hide the points of arrival and of transit of dirty [[capital]]. It is even their reason of existence (''raison d'être''). Trying to find the illegal money flux in those offshore centers is hopelessly doomed... However, since capital from criminal origin pass in the same financial 'pipes' as other ones [legal funds], i.e. clearing and financial routage companies, they become vulnerable precisely during their transfer [in those clearing companies]."<ref name="Desir"> {{fr icon}} [http://www.harlemdesir.com/article/articleview/783/1/1442/ Harlem Désir's official website] (European MPs [[Harlem Désir]], [[Glyn Ford]] and [[Francis Wurtz]] press statement about the $1.5 trillion math error & Denis Robert and Ernest Backes' book "Revelation$" and a May 9, 2001 op-ed in ''[[Le Monde]]'' titled "''Les 'boîtes noires' de la mondialisation financière''" ("The black box of financial globalization") by [[Bernard Bertossa]], attorney general in [[Geneva]], [[Benoît Dejemeppe]], king's attorney in [[Brussels]] (''procureur des konings'', ''procureur du roi''), [[Eva Joly]], [[investigative magistrate]] in Paris, [[Jean de Maillard]], magistrate in [[Blois]] and [[Renaud van Ruymbeke]], judge in Paris) </ref> </blockquote> In other words, all financial money flows, legal or illegal, have to pass through Clearstream or Euroclear; the system of unpublished accounts, of which a few (less than 10%) also were found at Euroclear, is the way illegal funds are metamorphosed into legal funds which can be used to buy any financial service. [[Michel Volle]], economist and former [[INSEE]] administrator, has compared this financial system to famous historian [[Marc Bloch]]'s description of predation in the [[Middle Ages]], in his book ''Feudal Society'' (1961): <blockquote> "I believe that the actual economy is composed by two types of relations: balanced exchanges, where both parties have the same power to refuse or accept the transaction; and predation, where one of the party is in the position to impose the transaction to the other party. Predation, compensated by [[Charity (virtue)|charity]], is the typical feudal relation (cf. Marc Bloch, ''The Feudal Society''). Balanced exchange has been put in place with the industrial society at the beginning of the 18th century. Predation didn't disappear at this time - the mafia is a feudal organization - but it was in the industrial economy an archaïc remnant. But it is coming back with the automated and computerized economy which founds the actual technic system and in which risk and violence, both extreme, goes in pair (cf. my work "E-conomie" and also [[François-Xavier Verschave|F.-X. Verschave]], ''Noir Silence''). Therefore, the economy has divided itself in two parts, one working under the balanced exchange regime, and the other under the predation regime. [[Shakespeare]]'s heroes are coming back! The interface between these two parts is money-laundering, which allows the results of predation to enter the "normal" and legal circuit. Thereby, predators can acquire influence ([[concentration of media ownership|controls of the media]] and, through them, governments), prestige, and honorability; thus bankers, politicians, and magistrates that the predators have bought may enjoy in complete tranquillity of the fruits of corruption... This, and not the [[First Employment Contract]], should have provoqued [[2006 labor protests in France|the demonstrations]]! But, as you say, medias are what predators control the best".<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news|title=Michel Volle, economist and former [[INSEE]] administrator's message to Robert | date=April 13, 2006 | accessdate=2006-04-29 | publisher=[[Denis Robert]]'s blog | url=http://ladominationdumonde.blogspot.com/2006/04/michel-volle-conomiste-sta_114492366403516710.html}} </ref> </blockquote> === A "black box" of Cedel === Ernest Backes also explained that a company named Cedel International, located in [[Geneva]], had been inscribed in the [[Swiss]] register of commerce but not included in the books of the mother company, Cedel International in Luxembourg. "This non-consolidated 'branch,' whose president is [[Robert Douglass]] of New York, former private secretary of [[Governor]] [[Nelson Rockefeller]], and vice chairman of the [[Chase Manhattan Corporation]] [now [[J.P. Morgan Chase]]], apparently had not raised too many questions for Swiss federal magistrates." Backes qualified this "black box" as "institutionalized tax evasion at highest level in world finance,", noting that tax evasion was even "more or less expressed in the objectives of the company as filed in the Swiss register of commerce." The "branch" has since "been resold to another Luxembourg holding company, with the people in the backyard remaining mostly the same." === March 2000 French parliamentary report === In March 2000, a parliamentary report by French deputies [[Arnaud Montebourg]] and [[Vincent Peillon]], entitled "Parliamentary Report on the obstacles on the control and repression of financial criminal activity and of [[money-laundering]] in Europe," dedicated its whole third section to "Luxembourg's political dependency toward the financial sector: the Clearstream affair."<ref name="Parliamentary Report"> {{fr icon}} [http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/rap-info/i2311-51.asp#P1089_155970 Official March 2000 French Parliamentary Report on the obstacles on the control and repression of financial criminal activity and of money-laundering in Europe] by French MPs [[Vincent Peillon]] and [[Arnaud Montebourg]], third section on "Luxembourg's political dependency toward the financial sector: the Clearstream affair" (pp. 83-111 on PDF version) </ref> ===Judicial investigations & libel lawsuits === Following the publication of "Revelation$," the [[tribunal]] of Luxembourg opened up an investigation on [[February 26]], [[2001]]. The judge finally declared no proof of "systematic manipulations" had been found, but found evidence of [[accounting]] manipulation and [[tax evasion]].<ref> {{en icon}} {{cite news | title=Clearstream being investigated for tax evasion, Spiegel says | publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] | date=May 24, 2001 | url=http://marcosaba.tripod.com/bloomberg.html}} and {{de icon}} {{cite news | title=Affären: Die Spur des Geldes | publisher=[[Der Spiegel]]|date=May 21, 2001|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,134979,00.html}} </ref> However, the case was dropped on [[November 30]], [[2004]], due to the running of the [[statute of limitations]]. At the beginning of the 1990s, Luxembourg had no specific law prohibiting money laundering. The [[Reuters]] dispatch describing the closing of the money laundering probe gave no reason for the dropping of the case, i.e. the statute of limitations. Reuters is dependent upon "Deutsche Börse," which now owns Clearstream, to supply its data feed to their subscribers. In addition to Clearstream, ''Deutsche Börse'' also owns the German Stock Exchange and [[Eurex]] "Termin" (futures) market. The Reuters cable also stated that Clearstream successfully sued Backes and French newspaper "''[[Le Figaro]]''" for libel on [[March 29]], [[2004]], but deliberately failed to follow up the initial [[October 1]], [[2003]] judgements (''[[Clearstream#Various suits against Denis Roberts|see below]]''). Reuters quoted Deutsche Börse's Chairman Designate [[André Roelants]] as stating that "this announcement is very important as it closes once and for all this chapter.".<ref> The December 1, 2004 Reuters article (11:27:47) was authored by gilles.castonguay.reuters.com@reuters.net (Tel. +32 2 287 6810, Fax +32 2 230 77 10 Belgium.newsroom@reuters.com) </ref> In 2003, the Paris Court rejected all of the finance company's requests (Clearstream was seeking damages of 500,000 Euros because of "[[defamation]]"), and condemned Clearstream to pay 3 500 Euros to Denis Robert.<ref> {{fr icon}} [http://www.arenes.fr/livres/page-livre2.php?numero_livre=4&num_page=374 Paris ''Tribunal de Grande Instance'' court decision, dated October 1, 2003, condemning Clearstream to pay 3 500 Euros to Denis Robert] </ref> The magistrates decided that the Clearstream money laundering evidence was ''"serious and cross-checked, lacking in any animosity and expressed with caution"''.<ref> {{en icon}}/{{fr icon}} {{cite news | title=La société Clearstream perd son procès contre Denis Robert | publisher=[[ATTAC]] | date=October 10, 2003 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://www.france.attac.org/a2178}}; {{cite news | title=The Clearstream company loses its lawsuit against Denis Robert | publisher=Attac | date=October 10, 2003 | url=http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=navclient-menuext&hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efrance%2Eattac%2Eorg%2Fa2178}} </ref> The suit is due to be examined by the [[Appeal Court]] in 2006. Denis Robert also has been sued for defamation by other banks and companies incriminated by the book: 50+ different cases &mdash; among which [[Bank Menatep]], Banque Générale du Luxembourg, etc., in which the author and his editor Laurent Beccaria were acquitted in all but two cases, and damages for both cases of one Euro were awarded. On [[January 27]], [[2006]], once more Denis Robert was charged by a Luxembourg committing [[magistrate]] for [[defamation]], [[slander]], and insults. A complaint was opened in March 2001 against Ernest Backes, and Denis Robert was included in it five years later: "I am very surprised of this accusation five years after the facts and of the energy which the Luxembourgian justice puts continuing to harass me while it was not at the end of the inquiry opened for money laundering, tax evasion and corruption against Clearstream", Robert said. An organization, "Freedom to inform," declared to ''[[Le Nouvel Observateur]]'' magazine that "By transforming the affair Robert in affair [[Luc Frieden|Frieden]] (Luxembourg Minister of Justice, of the Treasury and the Budget), every signature will be a civil act which protects the freedom of the media in Europe."<ref> {{fr icon}} {{cite news|title=A petition of support to Denis Roberts|publisher=[[Le Nouvel Observateur]] | date=February 22, 2006 | accessdate=2006-02-22 | url=http://nouvelobs.reverso.net/url/obsResult.asp?directions=65544&template=Default&autotranslate=1&url=http://permanent.nouvelobs.com/europe/20060208.OBS5694.html}} ([http://www.liberte-dinformer.info/60828.html petition available here]) </ref> ===Suspension & investigation of Clearstream's CEO=== On [[May 15]], [[2001]], [[André Lussi]] was suspended from his [[chief executive officer|CEO]] position at Clearstream, and on [[December 31]], [[2001]], he departed the company on mutual agreement.<ref> {{cite news | title=Lussi suspension ignites battle for control of Clearstream | publisher=[[Finextra]] | date=May 17, 2001 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=2084}} </ref><ref> {{cite news | title=Clearstream faces cash probe | publisher=Money Telegraph | date=May 17, 2001 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://money.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml;$sessionid$Q34HZJQAACE1BQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/money/2001/05/17/cnclr17.xml}} </ref> In February 2004 an investigation was opened against him, on money laundering, fraud, and tax evasion charges.<ref> {{fr icon}} {{cite news | title=L'ex-PDG de Clearstream inculpé | publisher=[[Le Monde]] | date=February 6, 2004 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_breve/1,13-0,37-838692,0.html}} </ref><ref name="Tobin"> {{en icon}}/{{fr icon}} {{cite news | title=André Lussi, CEO of Clearstream, stepping down - interview of Denis Robert | publisher=Tobin tax|date=June 2001|url=http://tobintaxcall.free.fr/Newsletter_4_EN.pdf}} </ref> André Lussi was replaced by André Roelants, who had been at [[Dexia]]. After years of investigations, all allegations made against André Lussi turned out to be completely causeless and the lawsuits were abandoned by the courts.<ref name="Luxemburger Wort">{{de icon}}[[d'Wort]]. “Eine Affäre, die nie hätte begonnen werden dürfen”. June 10. 2006</ref> === Refusal of the European Commission to open an investigation: ''20 Minutes'' ' revelations === Along with Ernest Backes, Denis Robert presented ''Revelation$'' to the [[Capital Tax, Fiscal Systems and Globalization]] intergroup of the [[European Parliament]] in March 2001 and also to the [[French National Assembly]]. The [[European Commission]] did not react to the question raised by [[Members of the European Parliament|European MPs]] (MEP) [[Harlem Désir]], [[Glyn Ford]] and [[Francis Wurtz]], who asked the Commission to investigate the accusations made by the book and to ensure that the [[10 June 1990 directive]] (91/308 EC) on control of financial establishment be applied in all member states in an effective way. Commissioner [[Frits Bolkestein]] observed that ''"the Commission has no reason to date to believe that the Luxembourg authorities do not apply it vigorously".'' The three MPs then issued a press statement demanding an investigation by the European Union of the correct application of the [[June 10]], [[1990]] directive.<ref name="Desir"/><ref name="Tobin"/> On [[April 26]], [[2006]], ''[[20 Minutes]]'' revealed that "in May 2005, MEP [[Paul Van Buitenen]] was shocked by Frits Bolkestein's presence on [[Bank Menatep|Menatep]]'s international consultative council, a Russian banking establishment, and by his work for [[Royal Dutch Shell|Shell]], a British-Dutch petrol company, two firms 'maintaining secret accounts in Clearstream'...&nbsp;Van Buitenen, also Dutch, then asked for 'clarification' to the European Commission and the opening of a parliamentary investigation. The Commission's president, [[José Manuel Barroso]], replied that these facts 'do not bring up any new question' and that it is not known 'if Menatep made contact with Bolkestein while he was in these positions'. No investigation therefore took place." The free daily points out that "in 2001, it was Bolkestein himself who announced the Commission's refusal to open up a parliamentary investigation on Clearstream", following Harlem Désir's requests and accusations that Menatep had an "undeclared account" at Clearstream. Bolkestein refused to answer any questions by the newspaper, which recalls that Van Buitenen, former European public servant, had already revealed a vast corruption affair in 1999, which led to the resignation of the Commission presided by [[Jacques Santer]] (who has also been prime minister of Luxembourg) and the fall of [[Edith Cresson]].<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Révélation 20 Minutes: Quand la Commission européenne refusait d'enquêter sur Clearstream | date=April 26, 2006|accessdate=2006-04-29|publisher=[[20 Minutes]] | url=http://www.20minutes.fr/articles/2006/04/26/actualite_france_Revelation_20_Minutes_Quand_la_Commission_europeenne_refusait_d_enqueter_sur_Clearstream.php}} </ref> Furthermore, two Belgian Senators, [[Isabelle Durant]] and [[Jean Cornil]], proposed a law in 2004 to create a national investigation commission charged with the investigation of the use of accounts in "clearing and routing firms" to commit fiscal frauds (tax evasion) and/or money-laundering<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Affaire Clearstream: questions-réponses à la Commission | date=April 26, 2006 | accessdate=2006-04-29|publisher=[[20 Minutes]]|url=http://www.20minutes.fr/articles/2006/04/25/actualite_france_Affaire_Clearstream_questions_reponses_a_la_Commission.php}} (provides link to PDF reports about [[Frits Bolkestein]] response to [[Harlem Désir]] and others MEP's question, as well as [[José Manuel Barroso]]'s response to [[Paul Van Buitenen]] and to the law proposition of Belgian senators [[Isabelle Durant]] and [[Jean Cornil]] </ref> === Clearstream's reply === In April 2006, while the second "Clearstream affair" was beginning to make French media headlines ([[Clearstream#The Second Clearstream Affair|See below]]), Clearstream filed a [[lawsuit]] against "John Doe," targeting this time the anonymous denunciations claiming that Nicolas Sarkozy and other French political personalities had secret accounts at Clearstream, which would have been used for hypothetical kickbacks. Former French Prime Minister [[Dominique de Villepin]] is reportedly under investigation for what may have been his involvement in spreading the false charges against the current French President Sarkozy.<ref name="De Villepin likely to face conspiracy charges"> {{Cite news | title=De Villepin likely to face conspiracy charges | date=July 6, 2007|accessdate=2007-07-06|publisher=[[Times online]] | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2033979.ece}} </ref> Furthermore it answered questions of ''[[20 Minuten|20 Minutes]]'' in an interview, denying knowing anything about the various attempts to create European-level investigations commissions about its internal workings. It also denied "the existence of parallel accounts" and of "personal accounts" (in response, Denis Robert published a list of several personal accounts on his blog<ref name="personal accounts"> {{Cite news | title=Clearstream claims that it has no personal accounts, Denis Robert publish a list of such accounts (video) | date=April 27, 2006 | accessdate=2006-04-29 | publisher=[[Denis Robert]]'s blog | url=http://www.dailymotion.com/video/137880}} </ref>). However, the company did recognize that "a banking establishment may request an unpublished account, that is, an account only known by the establishments concerned by the transaction, control authorities, and the [[auditors]] of the firm". Clearstream also indicated that it had "spent 15 million euros on various audits without finding anything," Denis Robert's accusations.<ref name="20 Minutes"> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Pour Clearstream, 'il n'y a pas de comptes parallèles' | date=April 26, 2006|accessdate=2006-04-29|publisher=[[20 Minuten|20 Minutes]] | url=http://www.20minutes.fr/articles/2006/04/26/actualite_france_Pour_Clearstream_il_n_y_a_pas_de_comptes_paralleles.php}} </ref> ===Nadhmi Auchi, largest private share-holder of BNP Paribas bank=== [[Iraqi]]-born [[Nadhmi Auchi]], # 34 on the "[[Sunday Times Rich List 2004]]" (# 22 on the same list in 2005) and 13th richest man in Britain according to ''[[The Guardian]]'', estimated to be worth $1 billion according to ''[[Forbes]]'', also appeared to be a key figure in the implementation of the double accounting system.<ref> [http://www.forbes.com/static/bill2005/name_26.html?passListId=10&passYear=2005&passListType=Person&searchParameter1=unset&searchParameter2=unset&resultsHowMany=25&resultsSortProperties=%252Bstringfield2%252C-numberfield3&resultsSortCategoryName=Name&fromColumnClick=&bktDisplayField=stringfield2&bktDisplayFieldLength=2&category1=category&category2=category&passKeyword=&resultsStart=26 ''Forbes''_Auchi] </ref> Auchi was convicted of [[profiteering]] by the Paris Criminal Court, and received a 15-month [[suspended sentence]], for his involvement in Elf's scandal, "the biggest fraud inquiry in Europe since the Second World War. Elf became a private bank for its executives who spent £200 million on political favours, mistresses, jewellery, fine art, villas and apartments".<ref> {{cite news | title=The politics of sleaze | publisher=The Guardian|date=November 16, 2003|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1086487,00.html}} </ref> The "Guardian" noted that Nadhmi Auchi had helped [[Orascom]] (which owns [[Djezzy GSM]]), owned by [[Onsi Sawiris]] (worth $5.2 billion with his family according to ''Forbes''<ref> [http://www.forbes.com/static/bill2005/name_526.html?passListId=10&passYear=2005&passListType=Person&searchParameter1=unset&searchParameter2=unset&resultsHowMany=25&resultsSortProperties=%252Bstringfield2%252C-numberfield3&resultsSortCategoryName=Name&fromColumnClick=&bktDisplayField=stringfield2&bktDisplayFieldLength=2&category1=category&category2=category&passKeyword=&resultsStart=526 ''Forbes''_Sawiris] </ref>), gain a contract to set up mobile phone networks in post-[[Saddam Hussein|Saddam's]] Iraq. As owner of the [[General Mediterranean Holdings]], Auchi is the largest private shareholder of [[BNP Paribas]], which until 2001 managed the [[escrow]] account through which the money from the [[Oil-for-Food programme]] transited. === Bank Menatep === {{See|Bank Menatep}} Bank Menatep, owned by [[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]], was involved in the "[[Kremlingate]]", when $4.8 billion in [[IMF]] funds were diverted to various banks, including US banks.<ref> See former [[World Bank]] vice-president [[Joseph Stiglitz]], chapter on [[Russia]] in "''[[Globalization and Its Discontents]]''" </ref> It opened up its non-published Cedel account #81 738 on [[May 15]], [[1997]]. "Menatep further violated the rules because many transfers were of cash, not for settlement of securities", writes Komisar. "For the three months in 1997 for which I hold microfiches, Backes says, only cash transfers were transferred through the Meanatep account. There were a lot of transfers between Menatep and the [[Bank of New York]]." Natasha Gurfinkel Kagalovsky, a former Bank of New York official and the wife of a Menatep vice-president, was accused of helping launder at least $7 billion from Russia, according to Komisar. US investigators have attempted to find out if some of the laundered money originated with Menatep. On November 26, 2003, Backes and another ex-banker, Swiss citizen André Strebel, filed a criminal complaint with the Swiss attorney general against Khodorkovsky and his colleagues [[Platon Lebedev]] and [[Alexei Golubovich]], accusing them of money-laundering and supporting a criminal organization. They requested an investigation and a search of records of the Swiss office of Menatep SA, Menatep Finances SA, [[Valmet]]. and of [[Bank Leu]] in [[Geneva]], related to claims of [[fraud]] against the Russian company [[Avisma]] and money-laundering by Menatep in Switzerland. According to this complaint, Bank Menatep has been linked since its creation to the Russian [[business oligarchy|oligarchy]] and criminal organizations, such as Khodorkovsky, [[Alexander Konanykhine]] and the [[Russian mafia|Russian godfather]] [[Semion Mogilevich]]. "Even though Menatep officially failed in 1998, it oddly remained on the non-published list of Clearstream accounts for 2000", wrote Komisar. Clearstream's listings also present 36 other Russian accounts, most non-published.<ref> {{en icon}}/{{fr icon}}/{{es icon}} {{cite news|title=Unlawful debt or financial crime against human development|publisher=[[ATTAC]] | date=June 30, 2001 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://www.attac.org/genes2001/documents/docdet7en.htm}} </ref> In April 2006, Clearstream declared, to the French edition of ''[[20 Minuten|20 Minutes]]'', that if "Menatep may have strange accounts, it wasn't closed because of money-laundering". It also claimed that it dealt with "banks accredited in their country of origin", but not with "establishments that are registered on the [[Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering]]'s black list".<ref name="20 Minutes"/> ===The Second Clearstream Affair ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Éric Rochant]]. See [[WP:MOS#Section management]] --> The Second Clearstream affair began in July 2004, when anonymous denunciations sent to magistrate [[Renaud Van Ruymbeke]] accused various important French political figures of having received kickbacks related to the [[Taiwan frigates scandal]], through secret personal accounts at Clearstream. Clearstream was again pointed out as having been a major platform for illegal financial transactions. ==== The Taiwan frigates scandal ==== In 1991, France sold six frigates to Taiwan, which led to more than five billion [[francs]] of kickbacks, with intermediary [[Andrew Wang]] as a major figure. The large amounts of these kickbacks made this affair one of the most important French political and financial scandals of the 1990s. The kickbacks were exposed after the 1993 murder of naval captain Yin Ching-Feng, who had written a report critical of the $2.8 billion purchase. Eight deaths have been linked to the affair, and 13 military officers and 15 arms dealers were sentenced by Taiwan courts to between 8 months and life in prison for bribery and for leaking military secrets.<ref> {{en icon}} {{cite news | title=After 15 years of silence, the key figure speaks | publisher=[[Le Point]] | date=September 9, 2004 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://www.andrew-wang.com/eng/media_articles/media_article11_eng.html}} </ref><ref> {{cite news|title=France silent on Taiwan frigates scandal|publisher=[[BBC News]] | date=June 21, 2002 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2057599.stm}} </ref> The money for these illegal percentage fees transited through Clearstream, according to Denis Robert. ==== Joël Bucher's testimony ==== Following the publication of "''Revelation$''", Joël Bucher, former deputy general director of the Taiwan branch of [[Société Générale]] (SG), wrote to Luxembourg prosecutor Carlos Zeyen, investigating Clearstream, to testify that SG used Clearstream to hide bribes and to launder money. "In the early 1990s, Bucher contends, Cedel was used to launder $350 million in illegal 'commissions' on a contract for the sale by [[Thomson-CSF]], a French government arms company, of six French frigates to Taiwan. He said that the money, handled by a SG subsidiary, was paid as a registered securities transfer to a 'nominee' &mdash; a stand-in for the real beneficiary &mdash; and that Thomson (now known as [[Thales Group|Thales]]) didn't appear in the transaction except in the Cedel archives. He said SG used two non-published Cedel accounts." ==== Investigation of the anonymous denunciations ==== On [[May 3]], [[2004]] and [[June 14]], [[2004]], [[Renaud Van Ruymbeke]] and [[Dominique Talancé]], the French magistrates in charge of the Taiwan frigates scandal, received two letters and a CD-ROM from an anonymous informant (called ''corbeau'' in French), detailing [[numbered bank account]]s maintained at Clearstream and describing secret transfers of millions of dollars. Many personalities were named, including [[Alain Gomez]], former director of [[Thomson-CSF]] (which since has become [[Thales]]), Andrew Wang, the Taiwanese intermediary of the frigates contract and one of Taiwan's key figures concerning arms contracts, [[Philippe Delmas]], vice-president of [[EADS]] the European aeronautics consortium, and [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], then minister of the Economy, [[Dominique Strauss-Kahn]], [[Jean-Pierre Chevènement]], and others. Members of the French secret services also were named.<ref name="Chronology"> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Les grandes dates de l'affaire | date=April 26, 2006|accessdate=2006-04-29|publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060415.WWW000000044_les_grandes_dates_de_l_affaire.html#}} </ref> Magistrate Van Ruymbeke opened another investigation, in July 2004. According to the denunciations, Andrew Wang passed on money to several very important French officials from 1999 to 2003, using Clearstream.<ref> {{fr icon}} {{cite news | title=Chuan-pu Andrew Wang, intermédiaire taïwanais dans le commerce d'armes: 'Je n'ai jamais payé de commissions à un politique français' | publisher=[[Le Monde]] | date=October 20, 2004 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/cgi-bin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=ART_ARCH_30J&objet_id=873135}} </ref><ref> {{fr icon}} {{cite news | title=Cette ténébreuse affaire qui oppose Sarkozy à Villepin | publisher=[[Le Monde]] | date=November 10, 2004 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_breve/1,13-0,37-876102,0.html}} </ref> Colombian drug-dealers and a Russian oligarch also issued some of those payments, according to the ''corbeau''.<ref> {{fr icon}} {{cite news | title=Une lettre anonyme ouvre la piste Clearstream | publisher=[[Le Monde]] | date=May 15, 2004 | accessdate=January 2006 | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_breve/1,13-0,37-853831,0.html}} </ref> Andrew Wang allegedly received a high part of the illegal fees given during the selling of the six frigates. According to Luxembourg's [[public prosecutor]], the investigation of Clearstream has not confirmed money-laundering suspicions concerning the Taiwan frigates and Bank Menatep, owned by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. However, Dominique de Talancé and Renaud Van Ruymbeke, the French magistrates in charge of the Taiwan frigates affair, made a demand for information in Clearstream's offices in Luxembourg. But in January 2006, both magistrates declared the case closed, on the grounds that the ''corbeau'' 's list of Clearstream accounts owned by various political figures was a fraud. For example, the numbered ''[[Banca popolare di Sondrio]]'' Clearstream account, supposedly in the names of "Stéphane Bocsa" and "Paul de Nagy" &mdash; probable contender for the 2007 presidential election, [[Nicolas Sarkozy]]'s full true name is "Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarkozy de Nagy-Bocsa" &mdash; was not Sarkozy's personal account, but an account used by various persons, according to the declarations of the ''Banca popolare di Sondrio'' to Judge Ruymbeke. The Italian bank asked the judge for a new [[subpoena]] concerning a specific person. However, the judges didn't bother, because, according to ''[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]]'', the "investigation proves that all accounts designed by the 'corbeau' [were] falsely attributed to [important] personalities. Furthermore, the authors of this fraud [were] known, even though there exist no proofs allowing to prosecute them. But the mystery remains: have they acted alone, or under command? And why did they choose the town of [[Sondrio]] for the ghost account of Sarkozy?".<ref> {{fr icon}} {{cite news|title=Clearstream: le mystère s'éclaircit|publisher=[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]] | date=January 19, 2006 | accessdate=2006-01-19 | url=http://www.lexpress.fr/info/france/dossier/sarkozy/dossier.asp?ida=436649}} </ref> The news article stated that the accounts were "falsely attributed", but did not deny their existence. The magistrates decided not to issue a subpoena personally targeting Nicolas Sarkozy to the Sondrio bank, offering no reasons to the press for not doing so. ====Lawsuits alleging defamation==== On [[September 3]], [[2004]], the Paris ''parquet'' (public prosecutor) opened an investigation into charges of "defamation", following a complaint by [[Philippe Delmas]], EADS' vice-president. Magistrates Jean-Marie d'Huy and Henri Pons are in charge of this new investigation concerning a peripheral aspect of the main Clearstream affair. In December 2005, magistrate Van Ruymbeke, in charge of the Taiwan frigates Affair, showed that the listings had been modified to falsely accuse French political luminaries. The existence of unpublished secret accounts at Clearstream is not, however, questioned, but only the fact that the persons named by the anonymous informer maintained such accounts. On [[January 31]], [[2006]], [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] sued. A probable contender for the 2007 presidential election, Sarkozy is upset about allegations that he might be linked to the Taiwan frigates scandal via a foreign and secret account at Clearstream. He was followed quickly by other French political figures, including [[Dominique Strauss-Kahn]] on [[April 18]], and [[Alain Madelin]] and [[Jean-Pierre Chevènement]] on [[April 19]]. EADS also filed a complaint on [[April 13]], followed by Clearstream itself on [[April 20]]. Clearstream did not want to see its brand-name associated with the Taiwan frigates scandal, and clearly did not enjoy the sudden bad advertising it was receiving. The firm denied hosting any personal secret accounts, which in turn prompted Denis Robert to publish a list of personal accounts maintained by Clearstream (which did not include any of the political luminaries accused by the ''corbeau'').<ref name="20 Minutes"/><ref name="personal accounts"/> The magistrates then ordered an investigation of General [[Philippe Rondot]], former member of the French Secret Service [[DGSE]] and the man who captured [[Carlos the Jackal]] in 1994,<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Le général Rondot, spécialiste du renseignement à la discrétion légendaire | date=April 29, 2006 | accessdate=2006-04-29 | publisher=[[20 Minutes]] | url=http://www.20minutes.fr/articles/2006/04/29/dossier_Le_general_Rondot_specialiste_du_renseignement_a_la_discretion_legendaire.php }} </ref> currently attached to the French Ministry of Defence, and to the DGSE headquarters (nicknamed ''la piscine'', "the swimming pool", because of its former location). On [[March 28]], [[2006]], in a declaration to the magistrates in charge of what became the "second Clearstream scandal", General Philippe Rondot directly accused Prime Minister [[Dominique de Villepin]] and President [[Jacques Chirac]] of having ordered the investigation of French politicians.<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Clearstream : une affaire qui dure depuis 5 ans | date=April 29, 2006|accessdate=2006-04-29|publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060429.FIG000000684_clearstream_une_affaire_qui_dure_depuis_ans.html}} </ref> It is not the existence itself of the accounts, however, that has been proved false, nor the existence of personal accounts maintained by Clearstream, but the claim that they belonged to such important politicians.<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title='Ce que raconte le corbeau est possible', selon le journaliste Denis Robert | date=April 29, 2006 | accessdate=2006-04-29 | publisher=[[20 Minutes]] | url=http://www.20minutes.fr/articles/2006/04/29/dossier_Ce_que_raconte_le_corbeau_est_possible_selon_le_journaliste_Denis_Robert.php}} </ref> On the other side of the political spectrum in France, the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party]] asked for the creation of a commission to investigate such mis-use of the intelligence services. On [[April 6]], [[2006]], in a new demonstration of the independence of French judiciary power from the executive, Jean-Claude Marin, Paris' public prosecutor of the Republic (''procureur de la République''), sent a letter to Jean-Claude Magendie, the court's president and to [[Yves Bot]], attorney-general, complaining about the attitudes of the investigative magistrates Henri Pons and Jean-Marie d'Huy. The Republic's public prosecutor complained that he wasn't told before hand of the location of the various investigations.<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Le coup de colère du procureur de Paris | date=April 18, 2006|accessdate=2006-04-29|publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060418.FIG000000028_le_coup_de_colere_du_procureur_de_paris.html}} </ref> According to Philippe Rondot's testimony (20 pages), Prime Minister de Villepin ordered him on [[January 9]], [[2004]], to conduct a confidential investigation of a list of secret personal accounts held at Clearstream. The list was given to him by [[Jean-Louis Gergorin]], an executive vice-president of [[EADS]] European arms consortium, and allegedly a close friend of Villepin. On [[April 28]], [[2006]], Villepin denied having commissioned an investigation of Nicolas Sarkozy. He declared, to the conservative newspaper ''[[Le Figaro|Figaro]]'', that although he had demanded that Rondot carry out these investigations, he explicitly had limited the investigations to non-politicians. Villepin thus declared that he "never" had commissioned an investigation of Sarkozy, and that he always had "acted within the ambit of action defined by the President" to regularize international financial markets. On the same day, President Jacques Chirac also denied having ordered an investigation of French politicians. It was the first time that the [[Elysée palace]] had expressed itself, regarding this Clearstream affair. ''Le Figaro'' noted, in the same article, the "very serious accusations against the executive" power that Rondot had made, quoting ''[[Le Monde]]'': "According to Mr. Rondot, the future prime minister [Villepin] had asked him, following the instructions of the head-of-state [Chirac], to go beyond the limits fixed to his investigation by the office of Minister of Defense [[Michèle Alliot-Marie]] and examine the clues concerning politicians"<ref> {{fr icon}} "''Dans un long communiqué publié à midi, il affirme n'avoir «jamais» fait enquêter sur Nicolas Sarkozy et avoir toujours «agi dans le cadre fixé par le président» Jacques Chirac pour moraliser les marchés internationaux. Dans un entretien publié vendredi dans Le Figaro, Dominique de Villepin avait admis avoir demandé une enquête confidentielle au général Rondot, mais assurait que cette enquête ne concernait aucune personnalité politique. Vers 15 heures, c’est au tour de l’Elysée de réfuter les affirmations du Monde. «S'agissant de l'affaire Clearstream, le président de la République dément catégoriquement avoir demandé la moindre enquête visant des personnalités politiques dont le nom a pu être mentionné», indique le communiqué. C’est la première fois que l’Elysée s’exprime sur cette affaire. Il faut dire que le témoignage du général Rondot, rapporté par le Monde, portent de très lourdes accusations contre l’exécutif. «Selon M. Rondot, le futur premier ministre [Dominique de Villepin] lui aurait demandé, sur les instructions du chef de l'Etat, d'outrepasser les limites fixées à son enquête par le cabinet de Michèle Alliot-Marie en examinant la piste des hommes politiques cités», écrit Le Monde.'' in {{Cite news | title=Clearstream : Chirac et Villepin démentent avoir ordonné une enquête sur Sarkozy | date=April 28, 2006 | accessdate=2006-05-05 | publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | url=http://www.figaro.fr/france/20060428.WWW000000471_clearstream_chirac_et_villepin_dementent_avoir_ordonne_une_enquete_sur_sarkozy.html}} </ref><ref> ''Le Monde'' quote available here: {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Affaire Clearstream: le témoignage qui contredit Dominique de Villepin | date=April 28, 2006|accessdate=2006-05-05|publisher=[[Le Monde]] | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/imprimer_element/0,40-0@2-3224,50-766417,0.html}} </ref> In this [[April 28]], [[2006]] article, ''Le Figaro'' thus explained how the head of staff of Minister of Defense Michèle Alliot-Marie (called "MAM" by the ''[[Canard Enchaîné]]'') had ordered "Philippe Rondot to investigate the veracity of the computerized listings of Clearstream account-holders". According to Rondot, the investigation at that time did not include any politicians. These listings should not be confused with the other listings, sent to the French justice system during the spring of 2004 by the anonymous informer, which have been revealed by the secret services to have been fraudulent <ref>{{fr icon}} <small> "''En novembre 2003, le directeur de cabinet du ministre de la Défense, Michèle Alliot-Marie, demande à Philippe Rondot d'enquêter sur la véracité de listings informatiques de titulaires de comptes Clearstream. Ce sont des listings du même type qui ont été adressés à la justice par le corbeau au printemps 2004 et se sont révélés être une manipulation. L'enquête demandée à M. Rondot fin 2003 ne porte alors, selon lui, sur aucune personnalité politique.''" </small> See ''Le Figaro'', "Clearstream: Chirac et Villepin démentent avoir ordonné une enquête sur Sarkozy", April 28, 2006, ''ibid.'' </ref> Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's refutation of accusations against himself began as follows: <blockquote> "The Prime minister wishes to make the following observations on the Taiwan Frigates Affair and on the Clearstream Affair. In the first place, the Taiwan Frigates Affair: as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and following the guidelines set by the President of the Republic regarding the Taiwan Frigates Affair, on [[January 9]], [[2004]], I asked [[General Rondot]] to attempt to verify the credibility of rumors concerning the existence of international [[mafia|mafiosi]] networks and intermediaries which could threaten our national security or our interests. This meeting, in which Jean-Louis Gergorin participated, was an opportunity for us to address several international questions, in particular [[organized crime]] networks... The aim was not at all to investigate individuals, but networks and intermediaries... I acted within the framework defined by the President of the Republic, which aimed at regularizing the large international financial markets and at defending ourselves against any manipulation or destabilization of our economic interests... In the second place, there are these calumnious deununciations of the Clearstream Affair: the Affair took a new turn in Spring 2004, with the mention of political personalities, industrial leaders and people in government services among the names on a list of account-holders. As Interior Minister, it was my responsibility to ask that the [[Direction de Surveillance du Territoire|DST]] [''Direction de Surveillance du Territoire'', a secret service] undertake verifications. The DST concluded that the authors of this manipulation offered nothing concrete or probative. I asked the director of the DST to notify the judicial authorities of the conclusions which had been given to me. To conclude here, I will make several personal observations: my first preoccupation is that justice be done to all individuals injustly involved in this affair who legitimately feel they have been injured &mdash; I said this yesterday to Nicolas Sarkozy. As Prime Minister, I am profoundly shocked by certain innuendos here, and by the shadow cast upon the State and the government services. I have no doubt that full light will be shed upon this affair by the investigations of our justice system." <ref> The April 28, 2006 refutation by Villepin is accessible here: {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Le communiqué officiel de Villepin | date=April 28, 2006 | accessdate=2006-05-05 | publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060428.WWW000000340_le_communique_officiel_de_matignon.html}}. <small> "''Le Premier ministre tient à apporter les précisions suivantes sur l’affaire des frégates de Taïwan et sur l’affaire Clearstream. Le premier temps, c’est l’affaire des frégates de Taïwan : Dans mes attributions de ministre des Affaires étrangères et dans le cadre des orientations fixées par le Président de la République sur l’affaire des frégates de Taïwan, j’ai demandé le 9 janvier 2004 au général RONDOT de tenter de vérifier la crédibilité des rumeurs relatives à l’existence de réseaux mafieux internationaux et d’intermédiaires pouvant nuire à notre sécurité nationale ou à nos intérêts. Cet entretien auquel participait Jean-Louis GERGORIN a été l’occasion d’aborder plusieurs questions internationales, en particulier les filières du crime organisé (...) Il ne s’agissait en aucun de s’intéresser à des personnes, mais bien à des réseaux et à des intermédiaires (...) J’ai agi dans le cadre fixé par le Président de la République, visant à moraliser les grands marchés internationaux et à nous prémunir contre toute manipulation ou déstabilisation de nos intérêts économiques (...) Le deuxième temps, c’est l’affaire des dénonciations calomnieuses de Clearstream: L’affaire prend en effet une tournure nouvelle au printemps 2004 avec la mention de personnalités politiques, d’industriels et de responsibles des services de renseignement dans une liste de titulaires de comptes. Comme ministre de l’Intérieur, j’ai été amené à demander des vérifications à la DST. La DST a conclu à l’absence d’éléments concrets et probants sur les auteurs de cette manipulation. J’ai demandé au directeur de la DST de communiquer aux autorités judiciaires les conclusions qui m’avaient été remises. Pour conclure, je ferai quelques observations personnelles: Ma première préoccupation c’est que la justice fasse droit à toutes les personnes injustement citées dans cette affaire et qui se sentent légitimement blessées : je l’ai dit hier à Nicolas SARKOZY. Comme Premier ministre, je suis profondément choqué par certains amalgames et par la mise en cause de l’Etat et de ses services. Je ne doute pas que toute la lumière sera faite par la justice sur cette affaire.»'' </small> </ref> </blockquote> Villepin was under great pressure from various sides of the political spectrum in France to resign. The politicians named in the Spring 2004 listings, which have been described as a "manipulation", say they are furious, while Clearstream itself is upset to see its name quoted side-to-side with the very real Taiwan Frigates Scandal. It now appears that the Taiwan Frigates payments definitely passed through the Clearstream system of unpublished accounts, exactly as discovered years before by reporter Denis Robert. Now the magistrates Pons and Huys, in charge of the investigations concerning the anonymous denunciations, have demanded the right to investigate magistrates Renaud Van Ruymbeke and Dominique de Talancé, who since 2001 have been in charge of the Taiwan Frigates Affair. ''Le Figaro'' noted: "The approximatively 35 tomes of the case, concerning eventual kickbacks from the frigates market, are therefore officially connected to the Clearstream affair. If several judiciary sources take refuge in 'not understanding this approach', the two magistrates have from now on a considerable and unexpected content to feed their investigations. While magistrate van Ruymbeke is supposed to quit the financial pole [of investigation], in September to integrate the Parisian Appeal Court, Henri Pons and Jean-Marie d'Huy may immerse themselves in this case which bumps into the secret defense [or 'state secret']."<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Frégates: les juges d'Huy et Pons ont le dossier en main | date=May 5, 2006 | accessdate=2006-05-05 | publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060505.FIG000000034_fregates_les_juges_d_huy_et_pons_ont_le_dossier_en_mains.html}} </ref> On the other hand, the [[April 28]], [[2006]] Presidential communication stated: <blockquote> "Since its very beginnings, the Presidency of the Republic has worked for the regularization of international financial markets and for the struggle against international criminal networks. It always has bequeathed this task to successive governments. Concerning the Clearstream affair, the President of the Republic categorically denies having asked for any investigation targeting political personalities whose names may have been mentioned." <ref> {{fr icon}} <small> ''« Depuis son entrée en fonction, le Président de la République a agi pour la moralisation des marchés internationaux et pour la lutte contre les réseaux mafieux. Il a toujours donné à ses Gouvernements successifs des orientations dans ce sens. S'agissant de l'affaire Clearstream, le Président de la République dément catégoriquement avoir demandé la moindre enquête visant des personnalités politiques dont le nom a pu être mentionné. »'' </small> Accessible here: {{Cite news | title=Le communiqué officiel de l'Elysée | date=April 28, 2006 | accessdate=2006-05-05 | publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060428.WWW000000341_le_communique_officiel_de_l_elysee.html}} </ref> </blockquote> On [[April 30]], [[2006]], [[French Socialist Party|Socialist]] [[Dominique Strauss-Kahn]], also named in the manipulated listing, called the scandal a "type of French [[Watergate]]".<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Clearstream: "une sorte de Watergate à la française" selon Strauss-Kahn | date=April 30, 2006 | accessdate=2006-05-05 | publisher=[[Agence France Presse]] | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/depeches/0,14-0,39-27231584@7-37,0.html}} </ref> Two days later, the [[May 2]], [[2006]] edition of ''Le Figaro'' offered an interview of General Philippe Rondot in which he recanted his earlier testimony, declaring that: "My investigation was limited to former public servants of the [[DGSE]] [secret service] whose names had appeared on the Clearstream lists". The Clearstream affair had taken on such proportions that even [[TF1]], the major French television channel, featured it at primetime 8H00 PM.<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Clearstream: le général Rondot parle | date=May 1, 2006|accessdate=2006-05-05|publisher=[[Agence France Presse]] | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060501.WWW000000187_clearstream_le_general_rondot_parle.html}} </ref> Defense Minister [[Michèle Alliot-Marie]], whose office was searched by the police on [[April 13]], as part of the investigations concerning the denunciations, has been suspected &mdash; in an [[April 26]], [[2006]] article by ''[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]]'' &mdash; of having known of this affair since 2003 without informing Sarkozy. MAM formally denied these allegations, claiming that she didn't know anything about these listings until July 2004, when the press started talking about them. But General Rondot's testimony, published on [[May 3]], [[2006]] by ''Le Monde'', contradicts this denial. Rondot claimed having met MAM at the end of April 2004 to warn her of the "political consequences" of such an affair. On [[May 4]], MAM refuted Rondot's claims, emphasizing that his area of expertise "does not cover France itself". She acknowledged having met him on [[May 11]], [[2004]] to discuss the named people belonging to the Ministry of Defense who were accused of having Clearstream accounts, but she declared that they had not talked about the political personalities. MAM claims that her position and the possibility that she might be named Prime Minister in case of Villepin's resignation explain the recent developments concerning her.<ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Clearstream: Sarkozy reçu par le juge la semaine prochaine | date=May 5, 2006 | accessdate=2006-05-05 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060505.WWW000000334_clearstream_consultations_tous_azimuts_au_sommet_de_letat.html}} </ref><ref> {{fr icon}} {{Cite news | title=Michèle Alliot-Marie affirme avoir été visée | date=May 5, 2006|accessdate=2006-05-05|publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060505.FIG000000036_michele_alliot_marie_affirme_avoir_ete_visee.html}} </ref> == Searches in 2007 == French magistrates sought to search the ''[[Le Canard enchaîné|Canard enchaîné]]'''s offices in May 2007, after the [[French presidential election, 2007|election of Nicolas Sarkozy to the presidency]]. According to editing director Claude Angeli, the judges were looking for information on a "Rondot document" treating of alleged "Japanese accounts" of former President [[Jacques Chirac]]. The judges were not allowed access to the newspaper's offices, and [[Reporters Without Borders]] (RSF) protested against the search<ref> "Clearstream: les juges au Canard et chez l'avocat de Sarkozy," ''[[Libération]]'', 11 May 2007. Read [http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/societe/253247.FR.php here] {{fr icon}}.</ref> === The October surprise conspiracy === {{main|October surprise conspiracy}} Ernest Backes also indicated in ''Révélation$'' that he was in charge of the transfer of $7 million from [[Chase Manhattan Bank]] and [[Citibank]], on [[January 16]], [[1980]], to pay for the liberation of the [[Iranian hostage crisis|American hostages held in Tehran's embassy]] (Iran). He gave copies of files that he asserted shed new light on the October surprise conspiracy to the [[French National Assembly]]. === Bin Laden's Bahrain International Bank === [[Bahrain International Bank]], which has been suspected of moving [[Osama bin Laden]]'s money, had an account number in Clearstream, according to records supplied by Ernest Backes.<ref name="Terrorist"/> ===Banks with accounts in Clearstream=== *[[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]], which, although officially closed in July 1991, continued to operate via Clearstream through unpublished accounts &mdash; as did [[Bank Menatep]], involved in the "Kremlingate" (diversion of IMF funds), and owned by [[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]] *[[Banque Générale du Luxembourg]] *[[Carlyle Group]]<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/mr-noaction/gmbh062404.htm | title = US Securities and Exchange Commission response to a Carlyle request for confidential treatment | date = [[2004-06-24]] }} </ref> *[[Crédit Lyonnais]], one of France's major financial crashes during the 1990s *[[Société Générale]] *[[Banco Ambrosiano]], controlled by the [[Vatican Bank]] and involved in one of Italy's major financial and political scandals *Bahrain International Bank, possible links to [[Osama Ben Laden]] * [[Siemens]] ([http://thekomisarscoop.com/2007/08/15/siemens-has-a-13-billion-bribe-fund-did-it-move-payoffs-through-clearstream/ Published Accounts] by [[Lucy Komisar]]) *Numerous others; as Clearstream is an international clearing and settlement organization, most member companies and banks have published accounts. Dealing with Clearstream is entirely legal; accounts used for tax evasion or money laundering is not. ==Bibliography== *Denis Robert, Ernest Backes: ''The silence of the money. The Clearstream scandal''. (2002, ISBN 3-85842-546-X ) *Denis Robert, Ernest Backes: ''Révélation$'' (Edition des Arènes, 2001, ISBN 2-912485-28-2) *Denis Robert, Ernest Backes: ''Das Schweigen des Geldes. Der Clearstream-Skandal'', Pendo Verlag Zurich (2002, ISBN 3-85842-546-X) *Denis Robert, Ernest Backes: ''Revelaçoes sobre o mundo financeiro'', Editorial Inquérito (Portugal) *Denis Robert, Ernest Backes: ''Revelation$'' (Japanese ed. Tokuma Shoten Co, Tokyo) *Denis Robert, ''La Boîte noire'' (Editions des arènes, ISBN 2-912485-38-X ) *David Loader, ''Clearing, Settlement and Custody'' (operation management Series (Securities of institutes) (2002, ISBN 0-7506-5484-8 ) *David M. Weiss, ''Global Securities processing: The Markets'', The Products (1997, ISBN 0-13-323965-9) *[[Lucy Komisar]], ''Explosive Revelation$'' *[http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/rap-info/i2311-51.asp#P1089_155970 Official March 2000 French Parliamentary Report on the obstacles on the control and repression of financial criminal activity and of money-laundering in Europe] by French MPs [[Vincent Peillon]] and [[Arnaud Montebourg]], third section on "Luxembourg's political dependency toward the financial sector: the Clearstream affair" (pp.83-111 on PDF version) ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==See also== *[[Argentine debt restructuring]] *[[ATTAC]] *[[Banco Ambrosiano]] scandal *[[Kremlingate]] *[[Underground economy]] ==External links== <div class="small"> ===Main sources=== *[http://www.clearstream.com Clearstream home page] *[http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=navclient-menuext&hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Earenes%2Efr%2Flivres%2Ffiche%2Dlivre%2Ephp%3Fnumero%5Flivre%3D4 Les Arenes editing house of Denis Roberts' book - translated by google] *[http://www.arenes.fr/livres/page-livre1.php?numero_livre=4&num_page=32 Les Arenes links (including English)] *[http://ladominationdumonde.blogspot.com/ Denis Robert's blog] *{{fr icon}} [http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/rap-info/i2311-51.asp#P1089_155970 Official March 2000 French Parliamentary Report on the obstacles on the control and repression of financial criminal activity and of money-laundering in Europe] by French MPs [[Vincent Peillon]] and [[Arnaud Montebourg]], third section on "Luxembourg's political dependency toward the financial sector: the Clearstream affair" (pp.83-111 on PDF version) ===Media reports=== ==== In English ==== *{{cite news | title=Cross-border trade needs smoothing, bankers say | publisher=International Herald Tribune | date=January 24, 2003 | url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2003/01/24/fund_ed3_.php}} *{{cite news | title=Explosive Revelation$,| by [[Lucy Komisar]] publisher=In These Times | date=March 15, 2002 | url=http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/26/10/feature1_2.shtml}} *{{cite news|title=Interview with [[Lucy Komisar]] about offshore banking | publisher=Spitfire | date=February 5, 2004 | url=http://www.spitfirelist.com/f458.html}} *{{cite news | title=A little more on banks today (interview with [[Lucy Komisar]]) | publisher=Iraq War | date=August 21, 2004 | url=http://www.iraq-war.ru/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=20035}} *{{cite news | title=The bank that buys up journalists, |by [[Pete Sawyer]] | publisher=Punch magazine | date=October 11, 1997 | url=http://www.newsconfidential.com/PDFStore/punch_111097.pdf}} ==== In French (Google transl. available) ==== *{{cite news | title=L'affaire Clearstream tourne à l'affaire d'Etat | publisher=nouvel Obs | date=April 28, 2006 | url=http://permanent.nouvelobs.com/politique/20060428.OBS5853.html}} *{{Cite news | title=Les trois niveaux de l'affaire Clearstream | date=May 4, 2006 | accessdate=2006-05-05 | publisher=[[TF1|TF1 (tv)]] | url=http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/france/0,,3299237,00.html}} *{{cite news | title=Le scandale Clearstream à nouveau sur le devant de la scène - Pétition de soutien à Denis Robert, inculpé par la justice luxembourgeoise | publisher=[[Hacktivist News Service]] | date=February 17, 2006 | url=http://www.hns-info.net/article.php3?id_article=7789}} *{{cite news | title=Des banquiers aux mains sales | publisher=[[Alternatives économiques]] | date=July-August 2001 | url=http://www.fsa.ulaval.ca/personnel/vernag/EH/F/noir/lectures/banques_compromises.htm}} *{{cite news | title=L'affaire de la 'boîte noire' Clearstream rebondit à Genève | publisher=[[Le Courrier]] | date=February 12, 2004 | url=http://www.lecourrier.ch/modules.php?op=modload&name=NewsPaper&file=article&sid=3507}} (Google translation available for all articles...) *{{cite news | title=Succès contre la boîte noire | publisher=[[Le Courrier]] | date=February 5, 2004 | url=http://www.lecourrier.ch/modules.php?op=modload&name=NewsPaper&file=article&sid=3458}} *{{cite news | title=L'affaire Clearstream, au coeur du système libéral | publisher=[[L'Humanité]] | date=February 19, 2002 | url=http://www.humanite.presse.fr/journal/2002-02-19/2002-02-19-29124}} *{{cite news | title=Les énigmes du listing Clearstream | publisher=[[Le Nouvel Observateur]] | date=June 30, 2005 | url=http://www.nouvelobs.com/dossiers/p2121/a272001.html}} *{{cite news | title=Affaire Clearstream: le patron de la DST remet toutes les notes de son service à M. Sarkozy | publisher=[[Le Monde]] | date=June 10, 2005 | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3224,36-660134@51-648305,0.html}} *{{cite news | title=Clearstream perd encore en justice | publisher=[[Agence France Presse]] | date=March 17, 2004 | url=http://www.cfdt-banques.fr/article.php3?id_article=1315}} *{{cite news | title=Denis Robert, l�$-1òùhomme qui dérange les puissants | publisher=[[Politis]] | date=January 22, 2002 | url=http://www.politis.fr/article44.html}} *{{cite news | title='Le lobby bancaire est le plus puissant du monde', un entretien avec Denis Robert | publisher=[[Politis]] | date=December 9, 2004 | url=http://www.politis.fr/article1181.html}} *{{cite news | title=Denis Robert met le feu | publisher=[[Technikart]] | date=February 11, 2003 | url=http://www.technikart.com/article.php3?id_article=539}} *{{cite news | title=Pour une poignée de milliards de dollars | publisher=[[Technikart]] | date=March 13, 2002 | url=http://www.technikart.com/article.php3?id_article=122}} *{{cite news | title='Effet d'annonce' (entretien avec Denis Robert) | publisher=[[Le Nouvel Observateur]] | date=September 25, 2001 | url=http://archquo.nouvelobs.com/cgi/articles?ad=edito/00018741.EDI0001.html&host=&base=/2001/nouvelobs/base/2001.0925/qobs_online&skul=/www/file/nouvelobs/temp/une.20010925.32516.sk&cle=20010925.OBS8733edito/00018741.EDI0001.html}} *{{cite news | title=Enquête sur les comptes secrets des banques | publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | date=February 26, 2001 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Ernest Backes, l'homme qui lutte contre le 'crime bancaire organisé' | publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | date=February 26, 2001 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=La mission parlementaire enquêtera sur Clearstream | publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | date=February 27, 2001 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=La justice luxembourgeoise enquête sur Clearstream | publisher=[[Le Figaro]] | date=April 7, 2001 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=La décision luxembourgeoise fait trembler les banques | publisher=Le Figaro | date=May 14, 2001 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Clearstream: les comptes secrets passés au crible | publisher=Le Figaro | date=May 17, 2001 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Blanchiment: les députés épinglent Luxembourg | publisher=Le Figaro | date=January 23, 2001 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Les 1 000 milliards de dollars du blanchiment | publisher=Le Figaro | date=May 15, 2001 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Deutsche Börse reprend 50% de Clearstream pour 1,6 milliards d'euros | publisher=Le Figaro | date=February 2, 2002 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Parfum de scandale dans la finance internationale | publisher=Le Figaro | date=February 26, 2002 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Des sénateurs belges veulent enquêter sur des sociétés de clearing | publisher=Le Figaro | date=March 30, 2002 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Euroclear va fusionner avec Crest | publisher=Le Figaro | date=July 4, 2002 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=André Roellants entre au directoire de Deutsche Börse (comme vice-président) | publisher=Le Figaro | date=September 10, 2002 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=L'ex-patron de Clearstream inculpé pour blanchiment | publisher=Le Figaro | date=February 2, 2004 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Bruxelles épingle Clearstream pour entrave à la concurrence | publisher=Le Figaro | date=March 3, 2004 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Clearstream perd de nouveau en justice | publisher=Le Figaro | date=March 13, 2004 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Justice: satisfaction de Clearstream et de Denis Robert | publisher=Le Figaro | date=March 30, 2004 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Bruxelles ouvre une procédure contre Clearstream | publisher=Le Figaro | date=April 1, 2004 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Enquête sur un éventuel blanchissement | publisher=Le Figaro | date=June 19, 2004 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Le corbeau, un fin connaisseur de la finance internationale | publisher=Le Figaro | date=June 23, 2004 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Jeffrey Tessler (Bank of New York...va remplacer André Roellants...) | publisher=Le Figaro | date=September 24, 2004 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Jean-Louis Gergorin: 'Je ne suis pas le corbeau' | publisher=Le Figaro | date=November 16, 2004 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Le parquet conteste la procédure Rhodia | publisher=Le Figaro | date=September 2, 2005 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} *{{cite news | title=Quand la fiction dépeint la réalité | publisher=Le Figaro | date=November 6, 2005 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/perm/archives/find?url=%2Fcgi%2Fperm%2Farchives%2Fform&rub=&Texte=clearstream&x=120&y=12}} ==== Other languages ==== *{{es icon}} {{cite news | title=El banco Clearstream, implicado en la apropiación indebida de fondos del FMI | publisher=Diagonal Periodico | date=March 17-30, 2005 | url=http://www.diagonalperiodico.net/pdfs02/08diagonal2.pdf}} (very interesting, speaks about Nadhmi Auchi) ===Others=== *[http://www.channer.tv/past%20programs/wednesday,%2009-22-04.htm About Lucy Komisar] *[http://www.luxembourg.attac.org/ compiled info on Clearstream] by [[ATTAC]] Luxembourg. *[http://www.liberationfilms.be/article.php3?id_article=112 Film by Denis Robert and Pascal Laurent, "L'Affaire Clearstream racontee à un ouvrier de Daewoo"] </div> [[Category:International economics]] [[Category:Political scandals]] [[Category:Commercial crimes]] [[Category:Contemporary French history]] [[Category:Politics of France]] [[Category:Payment systems]] [[Category:Companies established in 2000]] [[Category:Central Securities Depositories]] [[Category:Political scandals in France]] [[Category:2000 in Luxembourg]] [[de:Clearstream]] [[fr:Clearstream]] [[it:Clearstream]] [[lb:Clearstream]] [[sv:Clearstream]]