Gold Premiums in Vietnam Hit $217 Over Spot In Heavy Demand

I think you have had to experience a collapsing currency first hand in order to truly appreciate the fundamentals of monetary value, and how these things can take on what seems like a force of nature.

I was doing business in Moscow during the 1990's, and saw the slow motion collapse of the rouble. Or at least it seemed like a slow motion collapse at first, until it gained quite a bit of momentum despite the measures the State took to maintain their 'official rates.'

Russia had a sovereign currency, right?  And so does Vietnam, and many of the other countries that experienced extraordinary currency depreciation, otherwise known as monetary inflation, since WW II.  Perhaps they just needed some better monetary theorists, or official enforcers with hairier knuckles. Their financial elite seems to have had plenty of false bravado.

But then again, they were not us. We are different. We are unique. We are the masters of all that we survey and purvey, the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals.  London and New York are where the elite meet to eat.

Here is what is happening with gold prices in southeast Asia now.  Ding dong.

This from Goldcore:

The Vietnamese Central Bank sold another 25,700 taels (1 tael = 37.5 grams or 1.2 troy ounces) at a gold bar auction on Friday in order to try and satiate the massive public demand for gold in Vietnam.

The Central Bank hopes that the sale of gold into the market will reduce the very high premiums paid by gold buyers in Vietnam, the largest buyer of gold in Southeast Asia after Thailand and one of the largest physical buyers of gold per capita in the world.

Vietnamese people hold gold as a store of wealth for protection against war, inflation and currency depreciation. In recent months, the bursting of bubbles in the stock market (see chart) and property market and the continuing devaluation of the dong has led to record demand in Vietnam and a surging premium over the spot price of gold.

Today, the premium was close to 5.5 million dong which is the equivalent of a very high premium of $217 per ounce over spot.

Reggie Middleton: Bailouts, Bail Ins, and Continuing Insolvency of the Irish Banks

"Gentlemen! I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country.

When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin.

Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out, and by the Eternal, (bringing his fist down on the table) I will rout you out."

From the original minutes of the Philadelphia bankers sent to meet with President Jackson February 1834, from Andrew Jackson and the Bank of the United States (1928) by Stan V. Henkels

Middleton: Ireland May Very Well Be Bust

Are All G20 Bank Depositors Exposed to a Cyprus Style Seizure of Deposits for a 'Bail-in?'

Dave from Golden Truth has let me know of an interesting quote from an article by Eric Sprott titled Caveat Depositor which *could* explain why countries like New Zealand and Canada are quietly tilting towards seizing bank deposits to recapitalize failed banks.

"If there is a risk in a bank, our first question should be: ‘Ok, what are you the bank going to do about that? What can you do to recapitalise yourself?’ If the bank can’t do it, then we’ll talk to the shareholders and the bondholders. We’ll ask them to contribute in recapitalising the bank. And if necessary the uninsured deposit holders: ‘What can you do in order to save your own banks?’”

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, March 26, 2013

Apparently this template has already been agreed to by the G20 according to Dave.

"Because the use of taxpayer-funded bailouts would likely no longer be tolerated by the public, a new bank rescue plan was needed. As it turns out, this new "bail-in" model is based on an agreement that was the result of a bank bail-out model that was drafted by a sub-committee of the BIS (Bank for International Settlement) and endorsed at a G20 summit in 2011.

For those of you who don't know, the BIS is the global "Central Bank" of Central Banks. As such it is the world's most powerful financial institution. I sourced a copy of this Agreement here: LINK...

...the agreement references specifically avoiding more taxpayer bailouts. It also refers to bank deposits in excess of Government insured amounts as "uninsured creditors." This is essentially the standard legal bankruptcy model which uses creditor hierarchy (secured lenders, unsecured lenders, preferred equity, equity) and applies to the rescuing of banks.

This is very important to know about and understand because what is commonly referred to as a "bail-in" in Cyprus is actually a global bank rescue model that was derived and ratified nearly two years ago. It also means that bank deposits in excess of Government insured amounts in any bank in any country will be treated like unsecured debt if the bank goes belly-up and is restructured in some form.

Because this is a legal Central Banking agreement that will be applied globally, it also means that U.S. bank depositors will not be immune to this rescue mechanism. It means that no one should keep any amount in any bank that exceeds the FDIC guarantee. In fact, I would recommend only keeping enough money in the bank to fund your monthly or quarterly bill paying requirements. Any amount in excess of FDIC deposit insurance will be exposed to the risk bankruptcy."

You may read the entire article at Dave's blog Golden Truth.

I would assume that if Dave's reading of this document is correct, unless there is a specific and unequivocal denial by your local government Administration, then this is the operative plan for another series of bank failures in the G20 countries, including the US, Germany, France, Italy, and the UK.  This would explain how these stealthy depositor seizure plans have been bubbling up from diverse countries.

I would not be satisfied if there was merely a dismissal of the possibility, that Cyprus was somehow a 'special case' because of the way in which their banks were capitalized, and so heavy with deposits.  In the event of a global derivatives meltdown, no capital structure will stand, and no bank can maintain a so-called 'fortress balance sheet' while they are gambling wildly with speculative leverage on the side.

I do not wish to seem to be an alarmist, but this additional information and some of the other events which are occurring has created a rather significant shift in my thinking.  Cash is not cash and deposits are no longer deposits as we once thought of them in this non-transparent, post-Glass Steagall financial world of ours. 

Congratulations. You may now be an unsecured creditor of your local TBTF bank if your and yours have any money on deposit there, either directly or indirectly.    You say you have money in a pension fund and an IRA at XYZ bank?  Oops, it is really on deposit in you-know-who's bank.  You say you have money in a brokerage account?  Oops, it is really being held overnight in their TBTF bank.  Remember MF Global? 

Who can say how far the entanglements go?  The current financial system and market structure is crazy with hidden risk, insider dealings, control frauds, and subtle dangers.  Jim Chanos says that the  cheating is so widespread and unpunished that it becomes almost a fiduciary responsibility to break the rules.

 No wonder people are so edgy.  I think the plutocrats have gone too far, but are so detached and out of touch that they have not figured it out yet.  And when the awaking comes, it will be quite a surprise to many.

To my correspondents who say they have spoken to their elected representatives about this and received assurances, I would not assume that they are aware of this international agreement which the US has presumably signed.  I was not.

And if you think they will stand up against any plans to take your deposits during a banking emergency, against a vociferous and overwhelming flood of objections from their constituents, remember how quickly the Congress caved on TARP and Cyprus' Parliament gave way to the EU and ECB.

Welcome to the abyss.

CBC: Canada To Adopt the Cyprus Model of Depositor 'Bail-In' In Case of Bank Failure

The smugness of the Canadian politicians is reminiscent of the Bank of New Zealand. 

Perhaps that is what the political do when they are making plans for a gathering storm and they wish for everyone to remain on the beach in the meanwhile.

I could be wrong, but in my judgement nothing in the global banking system is safe if the massive derivative bubble collapses. 

It will not only take down the private banks, but quite a few sovereign countries as well.

I am of the opinion that in the States there will not be the same sort of 'bail in' but a 'print in' in which the Fed will supply as much money as is required, taking value from all who hold Dollars including foreign holders.  So in that sense, the US is 'safe.'  It is all the holders of dollars around the world who are not.

You may wish to take some protective measures if you have not done so already.   When the times comes, there will be no time.

Ottawa weighing plans for bank failures
By Neil MacDonald
April 3, 2013

Buried deep in last month's federal budget is an ambiguously worded section that has roiled parts of the financial world but has so far been largely ignored by the mainstream media.

It boils down to this: Ottawa is contemplating the possibility of a Canadian bank failure — and the same sort of pitiless prescription that was just imposed in Cyprus.

Meaning no bailout by taxpayers, but rather a "bail-in" that would force the bank's creditors to absorb the staggering losses that such an event would inevitably entail.

If that sounds sobering, it should. While officials in Ottawa are playing down the possibility of a raid on the bank accounts of ordinary Canadians, they chose not to include that guarantee in the budget language.

Canadians tend to believe their banks are safer and more backstopped than elsewhere in the world. The federal government enthusiastically promotes the notion, and loves to take credit for it.

It may well be true, even if Canada's six-bank oligopoly isn't terribly competitive, at least in comparison to the far more diverse American banking universe.

But in the ever-more insecure world that has unfolded since the financial meltdown of 2008, it is also increasingly clear that nothing is safe anymore, not even blue-chip bank stocks and bonds or even, in the case of the Cyprus bail-in, private bank accounts.

And now, Canada is making a bail-in official government policy, too...

Read the rest here.