For a man who&nbsp;brags about his wealth&nbsp;Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to keep his financial&nbsp;status an absolute secret. Every presidential candidate for the last 40 years has published their tax returns. Trump has refused, over and over, and he and his team have repeatedly&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vox.com/2017/1/22/14351062/kellyanne-conway-trump-tax-returns">lied </a>about the reason for doing so (<a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/watch-eric-trump-flail-wildly-as-he-tries-to-explain-why-his-dad-wont-release-tax-returns/" target="_blank">his son Erik said, essentially, releasing his tax returns was inadvisable because it would&nbsp;subject them&nbsp;to public scrutiny</a>).

Donald Trump asked&nbsp;a foreign government to hack into an American politicians private emails&nbsp;on live TV&nbsp;before&nbsp;millions of people during the presidential debate, but publish one page of his&nbsp;tax return&nbsp;he threatens to sue.&nbsp;When nearly forced to prove his wealth, Trump has repeatedly declined.

While Trump did publish a&nbsp;financial disclosure form, required by law,<a href="http://thepoliticus.com/content/bombshell-trump-lied-his-financial-disclosures-has-massive-debt"> he made an immense lie</a>: The document reveals that companies he owns are $300&nbsp;million in debt, but actually a&nbsp;New York Times investigation&nbsp;determined that in reality this figure is more than twice as large, at $650 million. He is beholden&nbsp;to a wide range of financial backers, including ones he has criticised publicly.&nbsp;

Who funds Donald Trump, and what does this mean?

&nbsp;

A brief look at his Deutsche Bank history

To understand Trump, follow the money. This is inherently difficult, because Trump goes to enormous&nbsp;lengths to keep his money secret&nbsp;despite projecting&nbsp;the image of a&nbsp;self-made billionaire&nbsp;enriched&nbsp;by savvy&nbsp;deal-making.&nbsp;Really, his father was a New York real estate tycoon, handy when starting out, and for more than a&nbsp;decade Donald received money for&nbsp;putting his name on stuff <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2015/11/24/donald-trumps-real-secret-to-riches-create-a-brand-and-license-it/#3fef3d0e26e7">other people produce</a>.

But what we do know about&nbsp;his finance&nbsp;tells us important something, and puts into sharp relief the importance of what we do not know.

American banks stopped lending money to Donald Trump in the late 1980s and early &#39;90s, around the time he declared $900 million in losses as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/nyregion/donald-trump-atlantic-city.html" target="_blank">Trump casino-related businesses kept&nbsp;going bankrupt.</a> American banks considered him a major liability.

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<h5>On December 23, a few weeks before Trump was to enter the White House,&nbsp;Deutsche Bank settled,&nbsp;managing&nbsp;to cut&nbsp;the threatened $14 billion penalty roughly in half to&nbsp;$7.2 billion. Just yesterday, Deutsche Bank was fined another $690 million for its role in a &ldquo;mirror trade&quot;&nbsp;scam that laundered&nbsp;$10 billion, illegally moving the money outside of Russia.</h5>
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<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=On December 23, a few weeks before Trump was to enter the White House,?Deutsche Bank settled,?managing?to cut?the threatened $14 billion penalty roughly in half to?$7.2 billion. 


Just yesterday, Deutsche Bank was fined another $690 million for its role in a ?mirror trade?scam that laundered?$10 billion, illegally moving the money outside of Russia." target="_blank">&nbsp;</a></div>
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He was funded by Russian oligarchs, billionaires nearly overnight after seising for their own private wealth&nbsp;the state assets of the newly-collapsed former Soviet Union.&nbsp;The German Deutsche Bank also stepped in.

Last March,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-donald-trump-needs-a-loan-he-chooses-deutsche-bank-1458379806">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported that, just since 1998, Deutsche Bank has &ldquo;led or participated in loans of at least $2.5 billion to companies affiliated with Trump,&rdquo; not including one billion in loan commitments to Trump-related businesses.

Trump&nbsp;got into a large fight with Deutsche Bank when the US housing bubble burst in 2009.&nbsp;Trump tried to avoid paying back a&nbsp;$334&nbsp;million loan, saying the subprime mortgage crash constituted a &ldquo;force majeure&rdquo;, an unforeseeable catastrophe, like an act of god. He even attacked the bank,&nbsp;saying their lending practices played a role in the collapse--he sued them&nbsp;for $3 billion in damages. The bank sued him back, saying he issued&nbsp;a personal guarantee that he&#39;d pay $40 million in case his company couldn&#39;t pay them back. They were forced to negotiate.&nbsp;They settled, but the bank was soured on Donald Trump. &quot;He was a persona non grata after that,&quot; said a banker who worked on the deal, the Wall Street Journal reports.

This matters, because right now&nbsp;Donald Trump still owes the private arm of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-22/deutsche-bank-s-reworking-a-big-trump-loan-as-inauguration-nears" target="_blank">Deutsche Bank roughly $300 million.</a>&nbsp;And Deutsche Bank has had major problems lately.

From a November 9 Wall Street Journal post: &quot;Right now Deutsche Bank is facing a host of tricky issues in the US, including the threatened $14 billion penalty over mortgage-bond investigations that would seriously damage the bank&#39;s capital base. There is also a probe related to equity trades for wealthy clients in Russia, a country Mr Trump appears friendly towards. The bank [Deutsche Bank]&nbsp;declined to comment.&quot;

On December 23, a few weeks before Trump&nbsp;entered the White House,&nbsp;Deutsche Bank settled,&nbsp;managing&nbsp;to cut&nbsp;the threatened $14 billion penalty roughly in half to&nbsp;$7.2 billion.

Just <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/deutsche-bank-fined-about-630-million-over-alleged-10-billion-russia-money-laundering-scam-11930">yesterday</a>, Deutsche Bank was fined another $690 million for its role in a &ldquo;mirror trade&quot;&nbsp;scam that laundered&nbsp;$10 billion, illegally moving this&nbsp;money outside of Russia.

&nbsp;

Early, still releveant cause for&nbsp;fear

Regarding the settlement, perhaps the outgoing Obama administration wanted to get what they could while they could,&nbsp;fearing that a Trump administration would be more amenable to forgive Deutsche Bank, for something else in return.

Given that we know Trump was funded for years by<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/1/9/1618540/-Was-Donald-Trump-bailed-out-of-bankruptcy-by-Russia-crime-bosses">&nbsp;Putin-approved oligarchs</a>, that his bank of choice is also connected in a major way to Russian money laundering stands out.&nbsp;

It&#39;s speculation, but the lack of concrete facts here is&nbsp;Trump&#39;s fault: &nbsp;The onus is on him&nbsp;to clear this up, which he could overnight.&nbsp;But given both his&nbsp;scandalous refusal to publish finance&nbsp;records his predecessors&nbsp;considered par for the course,&nbsp;and&nbsp;his absolute refusal to divest from his private business empire while serving in public office, nobody should expect sudden&nbsp;transparency.

The former CEO of oil giant ExxonMobil&nbsp;Rex Tillerson, just confirmed as&nbsp;US Secretary of State, worried observers because he opposed sanctions against Russia after Russia annexed Crimea, sanctions that were stopping his company from making at least<a href="https://www.rt.com/business/363131-exxon-lost-billion-russia-sanctions/" target="_blank"> one billion dollars</a>.&nbsp;

Experts believed&nbsp;Trump remaining in charge of a <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/01/kim-albrecht-trump-data-viz/?mbid=social_twitter#slide-3" target="_blank">vast international business empire </a>put him in&nbsp;gross violation of the &quot;emoluments clause&quot; in the US constitution the very second he took office, and Russia&#39;s&nbsp;actions since have only validated fears.

&nbsp;

Recent reasons&nbsp;to worry: Trump and Igor Sechin CEO of&nbsp;Rosneft, Russia&#39;s state oil company

The notorious unverified dossier (adjudged serious enough that US intelligence briefed both then-President Obama and Trump&nbsp;on it)&nbsp;alleging&nbsp;Russia had recorded enough material on Trump to &quot;compromise&quot;, or blackmail, him also contained perhaps <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-trump-russia-igor-sechin-dossier-2017-1">an even more important allegation</a>:&nbsp;Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft, Russia&#39;s state oil company, offered Trump-ally Carter Page a 19 per cent stake in the $130-billion&nbsp;company in exchange for lifting US sanctions against Russia.

Page was an early Trump adviser, who &quot;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-trump-russia-igor-sechin-dossier-2017-1">took a leave of absence</a>&quot; after his trip to Russia came to light. The Trump campaign denied it ever worked with him, Business Insider reports.

Regarding Russian sanctions, Trump said: If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody&#39;s doing some really great things?&quot;

Just l<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-rosneft-privatisation-insight-idUSKBN1582OH">ast week, in &quot;one of its largest privatisations since the 1990s&quot;,&nbsp;Russia sold a 19.5&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;stake in Rosneft, and&nbsp;because of the&nbsp;highly&nbsp;opaque structure of the deal&nbsp;nobody knows who bought it</a>. Some commentators have&nbsp;noticed that the&nbsp;19.5 per cent&nbsp;sale looks like the 19 per cent alluded to in the unverified dossier, plus a brokerage fee.&nbsp;

A&nbsp;few days ago, the Kremlin escalated its attack on Ukraine with apparent confidence&nbsp;that the US president would not object.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Independence?

When Trump-appointed regulators deal&nbsp;with Deutsche Bank, will they&nbsp;advance&nbsp;the interests of the United States or the Trump Organization? Ditto for Trump and Russia.&nbsp;

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Must-read <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost">@washingtonpost</a>: &quot;Trump is sworn in, rockets fall on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash">#Ukraine</a>&quot; <a href="https://t.co/GT8UeDoey0">https://t.co/GT8UeDoey0</a>
&mdash; John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/826787097407344640">February 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Donald Trump&nbsp;campaigned on being an indepedently wealthy candidate unbeholden to&nbsp;interests. But he is keeping very large and important secrets. Just as he once was considered by&nbsp;Deutsche Bank, if he were to disclose what is really going on, many current&nbsp;supporters would likely change their mind&nbsp;and also consider Trump&nbsp;a&nbsp;&quot;persona non grata&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;

(WION)

Trump has received funding from Russia, which is now amping up war in Ukraine, and Deutsche Bank, guilty lately of major financial crimes

For a man who brags about his wealth Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to keep his financial status an absolute secret. Every presidential candidate for the last 40 years has published their tax returns. Trump has refused, over and over, and he and his team have repeatedly lied about the reason for doing so (his son Erik said, essentially, releasing his tax returns was inadvisable because it would subject them to public scrutiny). Donald Trump asked a foreign government to hack into an American politicians private emails on live TV before millions of people during the presidential debate, but publish one page of his tax return he threatens to sue. When nearly forced to prove his wealth, Trump has repeatedly declined. While Trump did publish a financial disclosure form, required by law, he made an immense lie: The document reveals that companies he owns are $300 million in debt, but actually a New York Times investigation determined that in reality this figure is more than twice as large, at $650 million. He is beholden to a wide range of financial backers, including ones he has criticised publicly. Who funds Donald Trump, and what does this mean? A brief look at his Deutsche Bank history To understand Trump, follow the money. This is inherently difficult, because Trump goes to enormous lengths to keep his money secret despite projecting the image of a self-made billionaire enriched by savvy deal-making. Really, his father was a New York real estate tycoon, handy when starting out, and for more than a decade Donald received money for putting his name on stuff other people produce. But what we do know about his finance tells us important something, and puts into sharp relief the importance of what we do not know. American banks stopped lending money to Donald Trump in the late 1980s and early '90s, around the time he declared $900 million in losses as Trump casino-related businesses kept going bankrupt. American banks considered him a major liability. On December 23, a few weeks before Trump was to enter the White House, Deutsche Bank settled, managing to cut the threatened $14 billion penalty roughly in half to $7.2 billion. Just yesterday, Deutsche Bank was fined another $690 million for its role in a “mirror trade" scam that laundered $10 billion, illegally moving the money outside of Russia. × He was funded by Russian oligarchs, billionaires nearly overnight after seising for their own private wealth the state assets of the newly-collapsed former Soviet Union. The German Deutsche Bank also stepped in. Last March, The Wall Street Journal reported that, just since 1998, Deutsche Bank has “led or participated in loans of at least $2.5 billion to companies affiliated with Trump,” not including one billion in loan commitments to Trump-related businesses. Trump got into a large fight with Deutsche Bank when the US housing bubble burst in 2009. Trump tried to avoid paying back a $334 million loan, saying the subprime mortgage crash constituted a “force majeure”, an unforeseeable catastrophe, like an act of god. He even attacked the bank, saying their lending practices played a role in the collapse--he sued them for $3 billion in damages. The bank sued him back, saying he issued a personal guarantee that he'd pay $40 million in case his company couldn't pay them back. They were forced to negotiate. They settled, but the bank was soured on Donald Trump. "He was a persona non grata after that," said a banker who worked on the deal, the Wall Street Journal reports. This matters, because right now Donald Trump still owes the private arm of Deutsche Bank roughly $300 million. And Deutsche Bank has had major problems lately. From a November 9 Wall Street Journal post: "Right now Deutsche Bank is facing a host of tricky issues in the US, including the threatened $14 billion penalty over mortgage-bond investigations that would seriously damage the bank's capital base. There is also a probe related to equity trades for wealthy clients in Russia, a country Mr Trump appears friendly towards. The bank [Deutsche Bank] declined to comment." On December 23, a few weeks before Trump entered the White House, Deutsche Bank settled, managing to cut the threatened $14 billion penalty roughly in half to $7.2 billion. Just yesterday, Deutsche Bank was fined another $690 million for its role in a “mirror trade" scam that laundered $10 billion, illegally moving this money outside of Russia. Early, still releveant cause for fear Regarding the settlement, perhaps the outgoing Obama administration wanted to get what they could while they could, fearing that a Trump administration would be more amenable to forgive Deutsche Bank, for something else in return. Given that we know Trump was funded for years by Putin-approved oligarchs, that his bank of choice is also connected in a major way to Russian money laundering stands out. It's speculation, but the lack of concrete facts here is Trump's fault: The onus is on him to clear this up, which he could overnight. But given both his scandalous refusal to publish finance records his predecessors considered par for the course, and his absolute refusal to divest from his private business empire while serving in public office, nobody should expect sudden transparency. The former CEO of oil giant ExxonMobil Rex Tillerson, just confirmed as US Secretary of State, worried observers because he opposed sanctions against Russia after Russia annexed Crimea, sanctions that were stopping his company from making at least one billion dollars. Experts believed Trump remaining in charge of a vast international business empire put him in gross violation of the "emoluments clause" in the US constitution the very second he took office, and Russia's actions since have only validated fears. Recent reasons to worry: Trump and Igor Sechin CEO of Rosneft, Russia's state oil company The notorious unverified dossier (adjudged serious enough that US intelligence briefed both then-President Obama and Trump on it) alleging Russia had recorded enough material on Trump to "compromise", or blackmail, him also contained perhaps an even more important allegation: Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft, Russia's state oil company, offered Trump-ally Carter Page a 19 per cent stake in the $130-billion company in exchange for lifting US sanctions against Russia. Page was an early Trump adviser, who "took a leave of absence" after his trip to Russia came to light. The Trump campaign denied it ever worked with him, Business Insider reports. Regarding Russian sanctions, Trump said: If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody's doing some really great things?" Just last week, in "one of its largest privatisations since the 1990s", Russia sold a 19.5 per cent stake in Rosneft, and because of the highly opaque structure of the deal nobody knows who bought it. Some commentators have noticed that the 19.5 per cent sale looks like the 19 per cent alluded to in the unverified dossier, plus a brokerage fee. A few days ago, the Kremlin escalated its attack on Ukraine with apparent confidence that the US president would not object. Independence? When Trump-appointed regulators deal with Deutsche Bank, will they advance the interests of the United States or the Trump Organization? Ditto for Trump and Russia. Must-read @washingtonpost: "Trump is sworn in, rockets fall on #Ukraine" https://t.co/GT8UeDoey0 — John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 1, 2017 × Donald Trump campaigned on being an indepedently wealthy candidate unbeholden to interests. But he is keeping very large and important secrets. Just as he once was considered by Deutsche Bank, if he were to disclose what is really going on, many current supporters would likely change their mind and also consider Trump a "persona non grata". (WION)

Analysis: Trump, Russia and Deutsche Bank?Links that raise many, many questions

New York and British authorities on Monday slapped nearly $630 million in fines on German banking giant Deutsche Bank over alleged money laundering in Russia, New York State&#39;s Department of Financial Services announced.

The scheme illegally moved $10 billion out of Russia, using so-called mirror trades among the bank&#39;s Moscow, London and New York offices, authorities said. The US Justice Department also is investigating the matter.

The fines were the latest development in the string of legal woes for the German banking giant, coming less than two weeks after the bank finalised a $7.2 billion settlement with the US Justice Department over its role in the 2008 global financial crisis.

The New York authorities said in a statement they were joined by Britain&#39;s Financial Conduct Authority in penalising the bank after finding pervasive weaknesses in Deutsche Bank&#39;s internal safeguards for money laundering and client risk.

DFS fined the bank $425 million, while FCA&#39;s fine was 163 million pounds, or about $204 million.

&quot;This Russian mirror-trading scheme occurred while the bank was on clear notice of serious and widespread compliance issues dating back a decade,&quot; DFS Superintendent Maria Vullo said in the statement.

Bank units tasked with legal compliance and preventing money laundering were understaffed and ineffective, the DFS said.

In &quot;mirror&quot; trades, clients would purchase stocks in rubles in Moscow while other clients who were related or even had the same owner would sell the same stock at the same price through the bank&#39;s London branch.

&quot;By converting rubles into dollars through security trades that had no discernible economic purpose, the scheme was a means for bad actors within a financial institution to achieve improper ends while evading compliance with applicable laws,&quot; according to the legal document detailing the settlement with DFS.

In addition to paying the fines, Deutsche Bank also will be required to hire an outside monitor to review its internal compliance measures.

US President Donald Trump owes about $300 million to the bank, nearly half of his outstanding debt, according to a July 2016 analysis by Bloomberg.

Although the White House announced that Trump has formally resigned from all of his businesses,&nbsp;independent experts in government ethics say it doesn&#39;t resolve the conflict of interest problem.&nbsp;

The Trump Organization shared a document with CNN indicating he has resigned from all his business interests.

As CNN&nbsp;wrote: &quot;The letter released to CNN still did not satisfy independent experts in government ethics, who have repeatedly urged Trump to liquidate his holdings and hand the proceeds over to an independent trustee who controls them without his knowledge, a structure known as a blind trust.&quot;

Larry Noble of the Campaign Legal Center told CNN that the letter does nothing to limit Trump&#39;s communications with his companies or to prohibit him from advising them.

(AFP)

The scheme illegally moved $10 billion out of Russia, using so-called mirror trades among the bank's Moscow, London and New York offices

New York and British authorities on Monday slapped nearly $630 million in fines on German banking giant Deutsche Bank over alleged money laundering in Russia, New York State's Department of Financial Services announced. The scheme illegally moved $10 billion out of Russia, using so-called mirror trades among the bank's Moscow, London and New York offices, authorities said. The US Justice Department also is investigating the matter. The fines were the latest development in the string of legal woes for the German banking giant, coming less than two weeks after the bank finalised a $7.2 billion settlement with the US Justice Department over its role in the 2008 global financial crisis. The New York authorities said in a statement they were joined by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority in penalising the bank after finding pervasive weaknesses in Deutsche Bank's internal safeguards for money laundering and client risk. DFS fined the bank $425 million, while FCA's fine was 163 million pounds, or about $204 million. "This Russian mirror-trading scheme occurred while the bank was on clear notice of serious and widespread compliance issues dating back a decade," DFS Superintendent Maria Vullo said in the statement. Bank units tasked with legal compliance and preventing money laundering were understaffed and ineffective, the DFS said. In "mirror" trades, clients would purchase stocks in rubles in Moscow while other clients who were related or even had the same owner would sell the same stock at the same price through the bank's London branch. "By converting rubles into dollars through security trades that had no discernible economic purpose, the scheme was a means for bad actors within a financial institution to achieve improper ends while evading compliance with applicable laws," according to the legal document detailing the settlement with DFS. In addition to paying the fines, Deutsche Bank also will be required to hire an outside monitor to review its internal compliance measures. US President Donald Trump owes about $300 million to the bank, nearly half of his outstanding debt, according to a July 2016 analysis by Bloomberg. Although the White House announced that Trump has formally resigned from all of his businesses, independent experts in government ethics say it doesn't resolve the conflict of interest problem. The Trump Organization shared a document with CNN indicating he has resigned from all his business interests. As CNN wrote: "The letter released to CNN still did not satisfy independent experts in government ethics, who have repeatedly urged Trump to liquidate his holdings and hand the proceeds over to an independent trustee who controls them without his knowledge, a structure known as a blind trust." Larry Noble of the Campaign Legal Center told CNN that the letter does nothing to limit Trump's communications with his companies or to prohibit him from advising them. (AFP)

Deutsche Bank fined about $630 million over alleged $10 billion Russia money laundering scam

Deutsche Bank&nbsp;has agreed to pay $60 million to settle private US&nbsp;antitrust litigation by traders and other investors who accused the German bank of conspiring to manipulate gold prices at their expense.

The preliminary settlement was filed on Friday with the US&nbsp;District Court in Manhattan, and requires a judge&#39;s approval.

Deutsche Bank denied wrongdoing. The bank in October agreed to pay $38 million to settle similar litigation over alleged silver price manipulation.

Amanda Williams, a spokeswoman for the bank, declined to comment. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is one of many in the Manhattan court in which investors accused banks of conspiring to rig rates and prices in financial and commodities markets.

Investors sued Deutsche Bank, Barclays Plc, Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC Holdings Plc and Societe Generale in 2014, claiming that they conspired to fix gold prices from 2004 to 2013.

While the investors did not estimate the size of the banks&#39; gold portfolios, they said the gold derivatives market alone reached $650 billion during the class period.

Deutsche Bank had agreed to settle its part of the case in April, but the terms were not disclosed until now.

In an October 3 decision, US&nbsp;District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan said investors could pursue much of their lawsuit against the other four banks.

Deutsche Bank has separately been in talks with US&nbsp;authorities on a potential multibillion-dollar penalty related to mortgage securities.

(Reuters)

Traders and other investors have accused the German bank of conspiring to manipulate gold prices at their expense

Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $60 million to settle private US antitrust litigation by traders and other investors who accused the German bank of conspiring to manipulate gold prices at their expense. The preliminary settlement was filed on Friday with the US District Court in Manhattan, and requires a judge's approval. Deutsche Bank denied wrongdoing. The bank in October agreed to pay $38 million to settle similar litigation over alleged silver price manipulation. Amanda Williams, a spokeswoman for the bank, declined to comment. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The case is one of many in the Manhattan court in which investors accused banks of conspiring to rig rates and prices in financial and commodities markets. Investors sued Deutsche Bank, Barclays Plc, Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC Holdings Plc and Societe Generale in 2014, claiming that they conspired to fix gold prices from 2004 to 2013. While the investors did not estimate the size of the banks' gold portfolios, they said the gold derivatives market alone reached $650 billion during the class period. Deutsche Bank had agreed to settle its part of the case in April, but the terms were not disclosed until now. In an October 3 decision, US District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan said investors could pursue much of their lawsuit against the other four banks. Deutsche Bank has separately been in talks with US authorities on a potential multibillion-dollar penalty related to mortgage securities. (Reuters)

Deutsche Bank to pay $60 million to settle US gold price-fixing case

German engineering group Siemens has agreed to buy U.S.-based Mentor Graphics in a $4.5 billion deal that will bolster its industrial software operations and help it keep pace with changes to manufacturing technology.

Siemens will pay Mentor Graphics shareholders $37.25 per share, a 21-per cent premium to Friday&#39;s closing price, and expects to fund the deal from cash reserves, it said on Monday.

Siemens Chief Executive Joe Kaeser has set out to reshape the group, a household name in Germany, to make it more profitable and agile by selling off non-core businesses and investing in areas such as software that promise faster growth and fatter margins.

Kaeser has so far managed to reassure investors that he will improve on his predecessor Peter Loescher&#39;s weak track record on making acquisitions pay off in the longer run.

Mentor Graphics makes software that helps semiconductor companies design and test their chips before they manufacture them and represents Siemens&#39;s biggest deal in the industrial software sector since it bought UGS for $3.5 billion in 2007.

Siemens said it now had all software that its customers needed to develop complex electronic machinery such as aeroplanes, trains and cars.

&quot;Our customers are driving a paradigm shift towards more and more complex and smart connected products such as autonomous vehicles,&quot; Siemens finance chief Ralf Thomas told analysts and journalists during a conference call on Monday.

&quot;This acquisition is our answer to this development,&quot; he added.

Baader Helvea analyst Guenther Hollfelder, who has a &quot;buy&quot; recommendation on Siemens shares, said the acquisition did not appear overly expensive at a valuation of 18.5 times operating profit.

Activist shareholder support

Shares in Mentor Graphics jumped 18.5 per cent to $36.37 in early U.S. trading, while Siemens was 1.1 per cent higher by 1435 GMT.

Mentor Graphics has been under pressure since activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp reported an 8.1 per cent stake in the company in September and said its shares were deeply undervalued.

Elliott said on Monday it supported the deal and saw it as &quot;great outcome&quot; for Mentor Graphics&#39; shareholders and customers.

People familiar with the matter had flagged the planned deal to Reuters, saying Siemens would pay $4.5 billion to $4.6 billion for Mentor Graphics, which competes with Synopsys and Cadence.

Siemens said last week that it planned a public listing of its $15 billion healthcare business, which pushed its shares to a 16-year high as investors hoped for an injection of capital to boost its valuation while funding new investments.

Siemens said it expected the acquisition to add to its earnings per share within three years and to lift earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) by more than 100 million euros ($107.21 million) within four years.

About half of the earnings boost will come from revenue synergies and the other half from lower costs, including from some job cuts, Siemens CFO Thomas said.

The deal will boost its software revenue by about a third from 3.3 billion euros, to around 6 per cent of group revenue.

Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan advised Siemens on the transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017. Bank of America advised Mentor Graphics.

(Reuters)

Siemens will pay Mentor Graphics shareholders $37.25 per share, a 21-per cent premium to Friday's closing price

German engineering group Siemens has agreed to buy U.S.-based Mentor Graphics in a $4.5 billion deal that will bolster its industrial software operations and help it keep pace with changes to manufacturing technology. Siemens will pay Mentor Graphics shareholders $37.25 per share, a 21-per cent premium to Friday's closing price, and expects to fund the deal from cash reserves, it said on Monday. Siemens Chief Executive Joe Kaeser has set out to reshape the group, a household name in Germany, to make it more profitable and agile by selling off non-core businesses and investing in areas such as software that promise faster growth and fatter margins. Kaeser has so far managed to reassure investors that he will improve on his predecessor Peter Loescher's weak track record on making acquisitions pay off in the longer run. Mentor Graphics makes software that helps semiconductor companies design and test their chips before they manufacture them and represents Siemens's biggest deal in the industrial software sector since it bought UGS for $3.5 billion in 2007. Siemens said it now had all software that its customers needed to develop complex electronic machinery such as aeroplanes, trains and cars. "Our customers are driving a paradigm shift towards more and more complex and smart connected products such as autonomous vehicles," Siemens finance chief Ralf Thomas told analysts and journalists during a conference call on Monday. "This acquisition is our answer to this development," he added. Baader Helvea analyst Guenther Hollfelder, who has a "buy" recommendation on Siemens shares, said the acquisition did not appear overly expensive at a valuation of 18.5 times operating profit. Activist shareholder support Shares in Mentor Graphics jumped 18.5 per cent to $36.37 in early U.S. trading, while Siemens was 1.1 per cent higher by 1435 GMT. Mentor Graphics has been under pressure since activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp reported an 8.1 per cent stake in the company in September and said its shares were deeply undervalued. Elliott said on Monday it supported the deal and saw it as "great outcome" for Mentor Graphics' shareholders and customers. People familiar with the matter had flagged the planned deal to Reuters, saying Siemens would pay $4.5 billion to $4.6 billion for Mentor Graphics, which competes with Synopsys and Cadence. Siemens said last week that it planned a public listing of its $15 billion healthcare business, which pushed its shares to a 16-year high as investors hoped for an injection of capital to boost its valuation while funding new investments. Siemens said it expected the acquisition to add to its earnings per share within three years and to lift earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) by more than 100 million euros ($107.21 million) within four years. About half of the earnings boost will come from revenue synergies and the other half from lower costs, including from some job cuts, Siemens CFO Thomas said. The deal will boost its software revenue by about a third from 3.3 billion euros, to around 6 per cent of group revenue. Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan advised Siemens on the transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017. Bank of America advised Mentor Graphics. (Reuters)

Siemens boosts software business with $4.5 billion deal with Mentor Graphics

Germany&#39;s top executives voiced confidence in Deutsche Bank on Sunday, after fears over the lender&#39;s financial health saw shares plummet to a record low.

&nbsp;

Speaking to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, the heads of some of Germany&#39;s biggest companies, including Siemens, Daimler and Munich Re, said the drama of the past week had not dented their trust in the country&#39;s biggest bank.

&nbsp;

&quot;German industry needs a Deutsche Bank that accompanies us throughout the world,&quot; chairman Juergen Hambrecht of chemicals giant BASF told the newspaper. &quot;We stand with Deutsche Bank.&quot; &nbsp;

&nbsp;

Deutsche shares fell into a tailspin last week as anxious investors fretted over a US demand for an unaffordable $14 billion fine over the bank&#39;s role in the subprime mortgage crisis, fuelling worries over the lender&#39;s capital level.

&nbsp;

After days of volatile trading, during which the German government was forced to deny speculation of a rescue plan to prevent the bank from collapsing, Deutsche&#39;s shares staged a recovery on Friday on a report it was nearing a deal to bring the fine down to $5.4 billion.

&nbsp;

Reinsurance giant Munich Re&#39;s chief executive Nikolaus von Bomhard told the Frankfurt newspaper he had followed the developments closely but currently saw no need to &quot;reduce our business volume&quot; with Deutsche Bank.

&nbsp;

&quot;Deutsche Bank has a great tradition, a solid foundation and beyond that, a good future ahead. Of that I am convinced,&quot; chief executive Dieter Zetsche of luxury carmaker Daimler was quoted as saying.

&nbsp;

Siemens chief Joe Kaeser added that the bank&#39;s management &quot;is pursuing the right goals and has our fullest confidence&quot;.

&nbsp;

In a show of solidarity, BASF&#39;s Hambrecht said he himself had just bought stock in the embattled lender.

&nbsp;

&quot;(CEO) John Cryan has earned our trust,&quot; he said.

&nbsp;

(AFP)

Deutsche shares fell into a tailspin last week as anxious investors fretted over a US demand for an unaffordable $14 billion fine

Germany's top executives voiced confidence in Deutsche Bank on Sunday, after fears over the lender's financial health saw shares plummet to a record low. Speaking to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, the heads of some of Germany's biggest companies, including Siemens, Daimler and Munich Re, said the drama of the past week had not dented their trust in the country's biggest bank. "German industry needs a Deutsche Bank that accompanies us throughout the world," chairman Juergen Hambrecht of chemicals giant BASF told the newspaper. "We stand with Deutsche Bank." Deutsche shares fell into a tailspin last week as anxious investors fretted over a US demand for an unaffordable $14 billion fine over the bank's role in the subprime mortgage crisis, fuelling worries over the lender's capital level. After days of volatile trading, during which the German government was forced to deny speculation of a rescue plan to prevent the bank from collapsing, Deutsche's shares staged a recovery on Friday on a report it was nearing a deal to bring the fine down to $5.4 billion. Reinsurance giant Munich Re's chief executive Nikolaus von Bomhard told the Frankfurt newspaper he had followed the developments closely but currently saw no need to "reduce our business volume" with Deutsche Bank. "Deutsche Bank has a great tradition, a solid foundation and beyond that, a good future ahead. Of that I am convinced," chief executive Dieter Zetsche of luxury carmaker Daimler was quoted as saying. Siemens chief Joe Kaeser added that the bank's management "is pursuing the right goals and has our fullest confidence". In a show of solidarity, BASF's Hambrecht said he himself had just bought stock in the embattled lender. "(CEO) John Cryan has earned our trust," he said. (AFP)

Germany's top executives show solidarity with Deutsche Bank

The German government denied it was preparing a rescue plan for Deutsche Bank as Germany&#39;s biggest lender faces a $12 billion fine from the US Department of Justice.

The bank boosted its balance sheet by selling its British insurance business Abbey Life to Phoenix in a $1.2 billion deal on Wednesday.

Although the sale will result in a pre-tax loss of 800 million euros ($895 mln), mainly from writedowns for Deutsche Bank, it will lift the German lender&#39;s capital ratio by 10 basis points.

The move pushed its shares to a record low on Tuesday and heightened concerns about the health of the financial sector in Europe&#39;s largest economy.

A local daily had reported that a rescue plan was being drafted in case Deutsche was unable to raise capital to pay for costly litigation.

But the German finance ministry dismissed the reports that the government would even offer to take a direct stake of 25 percent in an extreme emergency.

&quot;This report is wrong. The German government is not preparing any rescue plan, there is no reason to speculate on such plans,&quot; the finance ministry said in a statement.

The government was still hoping Deutsche would not need state support and only scenarios for a potential rescue were being discussed so far, the newspaper added.

A Deutsche Bank spokesman referred to an interview chief executive John Cryan gave German daily Bild on Wednesday and denied the report.

&quot;At no point did I ask the chancellor for support. Neither did I suggest anything like that,&quot; the Briton told Bild in response to a report that said he had asked Angela Merkel for her backing with a $14 billion US demand to settle claims it missold mortgage-backed securities.

On Tuesday, Andreas Dombret, the Bundesbank board member in charge of supervision said that support for Europe&#39;s oversized banking sector must stop, comparing banks to dinosaurs facing a threat of extinction.

&quot;Political support for the banking sector must finally come to an end - something that unfortunately I&#39;ve only seen to a limited extent,&quot; he had said.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs on Wednesday estimated that the US mortgages case will cost Deutsche Bank $2.8-8.1 billion. Other analysts have said that any price tag above $5 billion will likely necessitate a capital increase.

Its overall legal provisions stood at 5.5 billion euros at the end of June. However, three other large legal headaches also remain, alleged manipulation of foreign exchange rates, an investigation into suspicious equities trades in Russia and allegations of money laundering.

(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

The lender's litany of legal troubles have spurred worries it may need to raise capital to staunch the damage

The German government denied it was preparing a rescue plan for Deutsche Bank as Germany's biggest lender faces a $12 billion fine from the US Department of Justice. The bank boosted its balance sheet by selling its British insurance business Abbey Life to Phoenix in a $1.2 billion deal on Wednesday. Although the sale will result in a pre-tax loss of 800 million euros ($895 mln), mainly from writedowns for Deutsche Bank, it will lift the German lender's capital ratio by 10 basis points. The move pushed its shares to a record low on Tuesday and heightened concerns about the health of the financial sector in Europe's largest economy. A local daily had reported that a rescue plan was being drafted in case Deutsche was unable to raise capital to pay for costly litigation. But the German finance ministry dismissed the reports that the government would even offer to take a direct stake of 25 percent in an extreme emergency. "This report is wrong. The German government is not preparing any rescue plan, there is no reason to speculate on such plans," the finance ministry said in a statement. The government was still hoping Deutsche would not need state support and only scenarios for a potential rescue were being discussed so far, the newspaper added. A Deutsche Bank spokesman referred to an interview chief executive John Cryan gave German daily Bild on Wednesday and denied the report. "At no point did I ask the chancellor for support. Neither did I suggest anything like that," the Briton told Bild in response to a report that said he had asked Angela Merkel for her backing with a $14 billion US demand to settle claims it missold mortgage-backed securities. On Tuesday, Andreas Dombret, the Bundesbank board member in charge of supervision said that support for Europe's oversized banking sector must stop, comparing banks to dinosaurs facing a threat of extinction. "Political support for the banking sector must finally come to an end - something that unfortunately I've only seen to a limited extent," he had said. Analysts at Goldman Sachs on Wednesday estimated that the US mortgages case will cost Deutsche Bank $2.8-8.1 billion. Other analysts have said that any price tag above $5 billion will likely necessitate a capital increase. Its overall legal provisions stood at 5.5 billion euros at the end of June. However, three other large legal headaches also remain, alleged manipulation of foreign exchange rates, an investigation into suspicious equities trades in Russia and allegations of money laundering. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Germany denies 'emergency plan' to rescue Deutsche Bank

US stocks were lower on Friday afternoon as the possibility of a $14 billion fine against Deutsche Bank weighed on financial stocks, especially on the big Wall Street banks. 
 
The settlement proposal, made during negotiations between the US Department of Justice and Deutsche Bank over claims that the German bank mis-sold mortgage-backed securities, was larger than expected. 
 
Deutsche Bank&#39;s US-listed shares were down 9.4 per cent. Dow components Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan fell 0.9 per cent each. 
 
The S&amp;P 500 financial index dropped 0.74 per cent, dragging down the benchmark index the most. The KBW Bank index fell 0.90 per cent, putting it on track for its second straight week of decline. 
 
Traders have all but ruled out the possibility of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at its meeting that starts next Tuesday. Investors will instead look for clues on when the central bank will eventually pull the trigger. 
 
At 12:25 a.m. ET (1625 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 63.62 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 18,148.86. 
 
The S&amp;P 500 was down 8.16 points, or 0.38 per cent, at 2,139.1. 
 
The Nasdaq Composite was down 6.49 points, or 0.12 percent, at 5,243.20. 
 
The technology index dropped 0.52 per cent, pulled down by Apple&#39;s a 0.8 per cent decline and Oracle&#39;s 4.1 per cent drop following a weak quarterly profit. 
 
Helping limit losses was Intel&#39;s 2.5 per cent gain after the chipmaker raised its third-quarter revenue forecast. 
 
The CBOE Market Volatility index Wall Street&#39;s &quot;fear gauge&quot;, reversed course and was down 0.43 per cent despite the expiry of futures and options on stocks and indexes, or quadruple witching. 
 
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,989 to 911. On the Nasdaq, 1,492 issues fell and 1,245 advanced. 
 
The S&amp;P 500 index showed five new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 55 new highs and 35 new lows. 
 
(Reuters)

US stocks were lower on Friday afternoon as the possibility of a $14 billion fine against Deutsche Bank weighed on financial stocks

US stocks were lower on Friday afternoon as the possibility of a $14 billion fine against Deutsche Bank weighed on financial stocks, especially on the big Wall Street banks. The settlement proposal, made during negotiations between the US Department of Justice and Deutsche Bank over claims that the German bank mis-sold mortgage-backed securities, was larger than expected. Deutsche Bank's US-listed shares were down 9.4 per cent. Dow components Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan fell 0.9 per cent each. The S&P 500 financial index dropped 0.74 per cent, dragging down the benchmark index the most. The KBW Bank index fell 0.90 per cent, putting it on track for its second straight week of decline. Traders have all but ruled out the possibility of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at its meeting that starts next Tuesday. Investors will instead look for clues on when the central bank will eventually pull the trigger. At 12:25 a.m. ET (1625 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 63.62 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 18,148.86. The S&P 500 was down 8.16 points, or 0.38 per cent, at 2,139.1. The Nasdaq Composite was down 6.49 points, or 0.12 percent, at 5,243.20. The technology index dropped 0.52 per cent, pulled down by Apple's a 0.8 per cent decline and Oracle's 4.1 per cent drop following a weak quarterly profit. Helping limit losses was Intel's 2.5 per cent gain after the chipmaker raised its third-quarter revenue forecast. The CBOE Market Volatility index Wall Street's "fear gauge", reversed course and was down 0.43 per cent despite the expiry of futures and options on stocks and indexes, or quadruple witching. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,989 to 911. On the Nasdaq, 1,492 issues fell and 1,245 advanced. The S&P 500 index showed five new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 55 new highs and 35 new lows. (Reuters)

Wall Street hit as Deutsche Bank fine risk triggers bank rout

Around 50 companies including global banking institutions like the World Bank, Deutsche Bank and Barclays have expressed their eagerness to be associated with the centre&#39;s postal payments bank initiative, Indian minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Saturday. 
 
&quot;We will begin postal payments banking service from September 16, wherein 1.3 lakh postmen will be given hand-held devices, a moving ATM (automated teller machine) to provide banking services, insurance, money-order, as well as third-party service,&quot; the Information technology minister said after inaugurating an incubation centre at the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) here. 
 
Some 50 companies, including World Bank, Deutsche Bank, Swiss Bank, Barclays, want to be associated with us,&quot; said&nbsp;India&#39;s ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader. 
 
In June, the Indian cabinet had cleared the proposal for postal payments banks with a corpus of Rupees&nbsp;800 crore. The proposal is to set up 650 branches of postal payments banks.&nbsp; 
 
Prasad said his ministry is taking up several initiatives to use IT and related services to improve the services, and asked IT experts to use government services through the STPI to innovate in this direction.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We will also begin the virtual classroom facility so that we can use technology to offer better education through virtual classrooms. As a pilot project, 3,500 government schools will be given the facility, of which 770 schools are from (western) Gujarat,&quot; he added. 
 
The minister also spoke about the government&#39;s initiative to set up BPOs (business process outsourcing units) in smaller centres in the country. 
 
&quot;We have started BPO scheme to encourage small centres for call centres, BPOs. We started 48,000 call centres/BPOs and will provide a subsidy of Rupees&nbsp;1 lakh to call centres in smaller centres. We are creating a platform across the country for that,&quot; Prasad said, adding, &quot;IT applications will be used for pensioners, distributing scholarships. We want to make India the IT power hub of the world.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
Prasad later visited Bardoli, a city in western Indian state of Gujarat, from where the Indian freedom fighter Sardar Patel had started his historic &#39;Satyagrah&#39; against the British rule. 
 
The minister took a dig at the grand old party&nbsp;Congress for 41-year delay in conferring the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of Republic of India, upon Sardar Patel. 
 
&quot;Sardar Patel died in 1950, and was conferred Bharat Ratna in 1991. Rahulji (Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi) and Soniaji (Congress chief Sonia Gandhi) must answer as to why they took 41 years for this. Neither has a single family made India independent, nor has a single family been behind taking the country forward,&quot; he said.

(PTI) 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

'Some 50 companies, including World Bank, Deutsche Bank, Swiss Bank, Barclays, want to be associated with us,' Ravi Shankar Prasad said

Around 50 companies including global banking institutions like the World Bank, Deutsche Bank and Barclays have expressed their eagerness to be associated with the centre's postal payments bank initiative, Indian minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Saturday. "We will begin postal payments banking service from September 16, wherein 1.3 lakh postmen will be given hand-held devices, a moving ATM (automated teller machine) to provide banking services, insurance, money-order, as well as third-party service," the Information technology minister said after inaugurating an incubation centre at the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) here. Some 50 companies, including World Bank, Deutsche Bank, Swiss Bank, Barclays, want to be associated with us," said India's ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader. In June, the Indian cabinet had cleared the proposal for postal payments banks with a corpus of Rupees 800 crore. The proposal is to set up 650 branches of postal payments banks. Prasad said his ministry is taking up several initiatives to use IT and related services to improve the services, and asked IT experts to use government services through the STPI to innovate in this direction. "We will also begin the virtual classroom facility so that we can use technology to offer better education through virtual classrooms. As a pilot project, 3,500 government schools will be given the facility, of which 770 schools are from (western) Gujarat," he added. The minister also spoke about the government's initiative to set up BPOs (business process outsourcing units) in smaller centres in the country. "We have started BPO scheme to encourage small centres for call centres, BPOs. We started 48,000 call centres/BPOs and will provide a subsidy of Rupees 1 lakh to call centres in smaller centres. We are creating a platform across the country for that," Prasad said, adding, "IT applications will be used for pensioners, distributing scholarships. We want to make India the IT power hub of the world." Prasad later visited Bardoli, a city in western Indian state of Gujarat, from where the Indian freedom fighter Sardar Patel had started his historic 'Satyagrah' against the British rule. The minister took a dig at the grand old party Congress for 41-year delay in conferring the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of Republic of India, upon Sardar Patel. "Sardar Patel died in 1950, and was conferred Bharat Ratna in 1991. Rahulji (Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi) and Soniaji (Congress chief Sonia Gandhi) must answer as to why they took 41 years for this. Neither has a single family made India independent, nor has a single family been behind taking the country forward," he said. (PTI)

Global banking institutions keen on tie-up with postal bank initiative: India's IT minister

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