Thieving banks

[mavs>spurs]

So I've been involved in a long lengthy battle with Wells Fargo over bs fees they try to stick you with. Back when I signed up with them years and years ago, they didn't have all the fees. The first time I became aware was when I went to pay off the last 5k or so on my vehicle. The dumbass teller didn't know what she was doing and instead of taking it all out of my savings, she took it out of checking and then only the final portion came out of savings. So that left me with 0.00 in checking and the rest all in savings. I stop to get something to eat on the way home and next thing I know boom overdraft fees, fees for not having a certain minimum amount of money in my account, etc. Went up there and got all this straightened out, but was still pissed off and it was very inconvenient.

Fast forward a while later, and they're now taking charging me the fees again. I discover that this is becuase they had randomly stopped taking out 50 dollars monthly from your checking account and moving it to savings, a program that would allow you to avoid the fees and a program that I had been with as long as I had been banking with them. I never asked to be removed from this program, the dumbasses at the bank somehow fucked up up when i paid off the car. So i get the fees reversed and the theft stops for a while.

Few months later, fees are back, but this time on both the checking and the savings account. I go in and tell them that there is no point having both accounts if they are just going to charge me a fee on each one, so I move all the funds to checking and close down the savings account.

Fast forward about a year later, I go in to make a deposit. The teller asks me if I wanted to open up a savings account and said they'd offer me something like 2.5% interest which seemed really really high, i tell her that i actually had one but had to shut it down becuase the more accounts i open with them, the more fees i am charged. she explains and that I could now wave the fees If i agreed that they could move 1.00 from checking to savings with every purchase i made. So i say sure why not whatever and this goes fine for a while and then I realize that for the past 3 months, I realize the fees are back. I was never notified about any change in policy, they just start taking the monthly fee out of my checking account.

In my eyes, this is a slimy way to do business and it is legalized theft. I don't want to have to constantly monitor my bank account to make sure that they aren't finding creative new ways to steal from me. Are all banks like this? Anyone know of a bank or credit union that isn't fee-happy? To me it's just the principle of the matter, that they would try to steal from customers knowing that some people won't monitor their accounts like a hawk or go through the trouble for a 10 dollar, 20 dollar fee here and there. I'm fed up with Wells Fargo and their bs.

[Wild Cobra]

Move your money into a credit union. These bankers are no better than the politicians they flock with.

[ChumpDumper]

Why in the world are you still banking there?

[Wild Cobra]

Why in the world are you still banking there?
No shit.

For once, I agree with Chump.

[I. Hustle]

Lol

[mavs>spurs]

because it was local, not even 2 or 3 minutes from the house. it made things easy. when i was working full time and going to school i didn't really have time to go hassle with it during banking hours, and by the time i had quit to just focus on school and finish up the fees had stopped and everything seemed to be good for a while. but this time i think i am going to deal with the problem.

anyone know of credit unions that are open to the public? i know some of them are for like certain professions or whatever. i may be able to use the one my dad uses for his but idk.

[Wild Cobra]

because it was local, not even 2 or 3 minutes from the house. it made things easy. when i was working full time and going to school i didn't really have time to go hassle with it during banking hours, and by the time i had quit to just focus on school and finish up the fees had stopped and everything seemed to be good for a while. but this time i think i am going to deal with the problem.

anyone know of credit unions that are open to the public? i know some of them are for like certain professions or whatever. i may be able to use the one my dad uses for his but idk.
I think they were all mandated by law to be open to the public, though I'm not certain.

[CosmicCowboy]

Wells Fargo takes me on an absolutely kickass dove hunt opening day every year with great hunting, open bar, steak dinner, band etc. and I don't even bank there.

Thank you for paying those fees...:p:

[Wild Cobra]

wells fargo takes me on an absolutely kickass dove hunt opening day every year with great hunting, open bar, steak dinner, band etc. And i don't even bank there.

Thank you for paying those fees...:p:
lol...

[ChumpDumper]

anyone know of credit unions that are open to the public?Dude, what is your major?

[mavs>spurs]

throwaway line

[ChumpDumper]

throwaway lineSerious question tbh.

I thought it was accounting.

[mavs>spurs]

don't qualify your throwaway lines

[ChumpDumper]

Well, if it was your major, you kind of missed out on some of the basics.

If it wasn't your major, your laughable ignorance is somewhat more understandable.

[mavs>spurs]

still going haha

[ChumpDumper]

still having an effect haha

[mavs>spurs]

3 word responses = having an effect

rofl

[ChumpDumper]

multiple responses after initial whine = having an effect

I've truly never seen you so defensive as you have been the past couple of days, but you have posted some really stupid shit.

[mavs>spurs]

i think if you keep saying it enough it might come true

[ChumpDumper]

:cry Somebody plese tell me how to get into a credit union! :cry

[mavs>spurs]

yes, somebody please share with me their experiences with a credit union that has served you well

back on track..

[ChumpDumper]

:cry I went to school for four years studying accounting and finance and never learned anything about credit unions! :cry

[mavs>spurs]

lol you think the school actually wastes time on such trivial things such as which credit union offers the highest yields, charges the least fees, etc? that's like every day life stuff

you're not as smart as you try to advertise

[ChumpDumper]

lol you think the school actually wastes time on such trivial things such as which credit union offers the highest yields, charges the least fees, etc? that's like every day life stuff

you're not as smart as you try to advertiseMaybe if that's what you were actually asking about, you wouldn't look like such an idiot right now.


anyone know of credit unions that are open to the public? i know some of them are for like certain professions or whatever. i may be able to use the one my dad uses for his but idk.lol

[ChumpDumper]

I may not be as smart as I "try to advertise" but I do know more about joining a credit union that a dean's list UTA accounting major.

[mavs>spurs]

lol me not knowing all about credit unions being some sort of a moral victory for you. that's pretty pathetic of you.

[ChumpDumper]

lol me not knowing all about credit unions being some sort of a moral victory for you. that's pretty pathetic of you.Not a victory of any kind -- I just find it hilarious. Your defensiveness is the cherry on top.

[mavs>spurs]

i think if you keep saying it enough it might come true

[CosmicCowboy]

CD being an expert on credit unions probably just means he lives on borrowed money...I wouldn't be too intimidated by his knowledge.

[mercos]

Banks have gotten real shitty since they fucked themselves in the financial crisis. The one good part of Dodd-Frank actually took care of some of the BS overdraft rules. The fees are getting ridiculous. If my bank had kept the debit card fee I would have dropped their ass for a credit union too. The only reason I haven't kicked them to the curb is because they are my oldest standing account and I don't want to weaken my credit by loosing them. Otherwise, they would have been gone the moment they tried to ditch free checking.

I would definitely recommend telling Wells Fargo to fuck off and get with a local credit union. Not from Texas, so I have no recommendations for good ones around you, but I'm sure there are plenty. Though I still do my personal banking with a bank, I have dealt with credit unions as well and they are so much better to do business with.

[xrayzebra]

Re credit union. I do all my banking, and have for the past 25 years, with a credit union. I have no idea where you are located, so helping you find a credit union is impossible. But I am sure you being a full time student would qualify you at several. And maybe even one at the school you are attending.

Credit unions have fees, but nothing like banks. They have all the traditional accounts, checking, savings and money markets and investment people. You will pay for you checks, through the nose, but they have debit cards which solve that problem. They also have bill pay services, mine has no charges for the service which can save you money by no checks or postage to pay for when paying a bill.

You are will have to expend some energy checking around your area and seeing if you qualify. But many of them today Donald Duck would qualify they have expanded their membership base so much.


Good Luck

[mavs>spurs]

A couple of responses to your posts which I appreciate:

-Not a student anymore as of last week, just graduated.

-Don't write checks, so as its been pointed out the debit card would solve that problem.

So I guess basically I just need to look around locally. I didn't know that the requirements had gotten so lax for many of the credit unions. Thanks guys. Going to give Wells Fargo the big fuck you Monday.

[ChumpDumper]

CD being an expert on credit unions probably just means he lives on borrowed money...I wouldn't be too intimidated by his knowledge.No debt whatsoever for over seven years.

Insult fail.

[ChumpDumper]

A couple of responses to your posts which I appreciate:

-Not a student anymore as of last week, just graduated.

-Don't write checks, so as its been pointed out the debit card would solve that problem.

So I guess basically I just need to look around locally. I didn't know that the requirements had gotten so lax for many of the credit unions. Thanks guys. Going to give Wells Fargo the big fuck you Monday.Often you only need to reside in a certain county to join.

You're welcome.

[mavs>spurs]

What happens if you move?

[ChumpDumper]

Here they usually cover like a five county area, so that hasn't come up for me. If I move out of that range I should probably be looking up another credit union.

[Blake]

What happens if you move?

Still a member. Just inconvenient if you need to visit a branch every now and then

[MannyIsGod]

Wells Fargo takes me on an absolutely kickass dove hunt opening day every year with great hunting, open bar, steak dinner, band etc. and I don't even bank there.

Thank you for paying those fees...:p:

:lmao

[MannyIsGod]

lol you think the school actually wastes time on such trivial things such as which credit union offers the highest yields, charges the least fees, etc? that's like every day life stuff

you're not as smart as you try to advertise

No I'd think that someone who wants to manage money might do a better job of actually taking an interest in managing their own.

You're definitely as dumb as you try to advertise.

[MannyIsGod]

My last bank was BBVA Compass. They were free for years. They charged me a fee one month. Sent an email and got the fee waived. Went and opened an account at a credit union for educators here in NM and then went over to my bank and closed my account. Fuck paying fees.

[mavs>spurs]

Taking an interest..as in..seeking out the best place to do my banking and asking others about their experience? Thanks, got it covered you little monkey looking bitch.

You mad because I made fun of your for being an avid fan of online dating? Randomly bringing gay shit into the political forum is telling me.

[mavs>spurs]

going online to ask people's opinions on their banking experience = not doing a good job.

so therefore by your logic, shouldn't going online to meet women be considered not doing a good job at dating? :lmao

[MannyIsGod]

Taking an interest..as in..seeking out the best place to do my banking and asking others about their experience? Thanks, got it covered you little monkey looking bitch.

You mad because I made fun of your for being an avid fan of online dating? Randomly bringing gay shit into the political forum is telling me.

:lmao

Sounds like you're mad not me.

Glad the finance degree holder figured it was a good idea to come to the Spurstalk Political forum to learn proper banking practices. You should show this link to your first interview. They'll be impressed.

Whats better than simply being butthurt? Being butthurt and a fucking dumbass.

:lmao

[MannyIsGod]

going online to ask people's opinions on their banking experience = not doing a good job.

so therefore by your logic, shouldn't going online to meet women be considered not doing a good job at dating? :lmao

If you want to think I suck at dating, go for it. I didn't get a four year degree in dating. I also never started any threads on spurstalk (or anywhere else) on dating advice.

:lol Spurstalk Graduate School of Finance
:lol Finance Degree Holder who thinks Spurstalk is a fine financial resource.

Sounds like UTA produced a winner.

[mavs>spurs]

man all those smileys are just salt on the wound

thinking that a finance major should know the ins and outs of each individual credit union and which ones are better than others only proves you to be the ignorant one, you're reaching really hard because you're angry with me and it's obvious.

[mavs>spurs]

If you want to think I suck at dating, go for it. I didn't get a four year degree in dating.

I didn't get a degree in credit unions either.

[MannyIsGod]

No really. Manage my money please. You seem really good at it. Bank charges you fees, you stay with them. Bank charges you more fees. You still stay with them. Never at any point did it cross your mind to type "credit union" into Google? I understand you have a natural inclination to bending over and grabbing your ankles but didn't you think to at least ask the bank to use some lube?

[MannyIsGod]

Here, since I know you didn't get a degree in using Google either:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=avoid+bank+fees

[mavs>spurs]

I never lost any money (always got it back) so I'd say I'm managing just fine. I've stated my reasons for staying until now. You're the one coming into my thread and showing your ulterior motives, tbh.

You'd make a great politician.

[MannyIsGod]

I never lost any money (always got it back) so I'd say I'm managing just fine. I've stated my reasons for staying until now. You're the one coming into my thread and showing your ulterior motives, tbh.

You'd make a great politician.

Oh by all means, then stay with the bank. You're doing just fine.

A finance major who doesn't understand the value in time or conv
inence.

LOL @ you crying now about being trolled because you were stupid enough to post a thread asking for financial advice after years of bragging about your degree.

:( :( :( :( :( :(

You make a great punching bag.

[MannyIsGod]

You're the one coming into my thread and showing your ulterior motives, tbh.


http://www.kcconfidential.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Crying+Baby+Natural+High+for+Some+Moms.jpg

[mavs>spurs]

Oh by all means, then stay with the bank.

This thread is about how I'm NOT staying with the bank, you keep showing your ass.

[MannyIsGod]

Apparently until one of us holds your hand and teaches you how to close an account and open one with a credit union you are staying with the bank.

[mavs>spurs]

Apparently you can't read or think for yourself, you're just here to look like an ass because you have a personal vendetta :lol

[MannyIsGod]

The finance degree holder who can't figure out how to avoid bank fees because they didn't teach him about credit unions at his school is really going to say that someone else can't think for themselves?

The guy who loves to troll people is going to complain when he gets some of his own medicine?

:lmao

Soooooooooooo good.

[MannyIsGod]

I'll leave your thread now. I didn't mean to make you cry so much. I mean I didn't even have to bring up your circumcised penis.

http://www.kcconfidential.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Crying+Baby+Natural+High+for+Some+Moms.jpg

[mavs>spurs]

you are weird and like to claim internet victories for personal vendettas a lot. i didn't "get any medicine," you just managed to look like an ass all on your own. no ownage took place here other than self inflicted.

hey smart guy, if i couldn't figure out how to avoid fees and wasn't taught about credit unions, then how did i manage to start a thread about them then?

[ElNono]

http://creditunionaccess.com/TX-Dallas-credit-unions.htm

[Das Texan]

I dont know what a bank fee is.


I've been with a credit union since I was 15. I can't wrap around my finger why you would want to pay any fees associated with a regular bank, especially when a number of credit unions make things so easy for you, I can goto any fucking ATM and get money as long as I make a few debit transactions a month and do online banking.

So again, I have no idea what a bank fee is or why one would pay them unless you fuck up somewhere on your own.

[mavs>spurs]

I dont know what a bank fee is.


I've been with a credit union since I was 15. I can't wrap around my finger why you would want to pay any fees associated with a regular bank, especially when a number of credit unions make things so easy for you, I can goto any fucking ATM and get money as long as I make a few debit transactions a month and do online banking.

So again, I have no idea what a bank fee is or why one would pay them unless you fuck up somewhere on your own.

yeah banks didn't use to do all this back in the day. i banked with wells fargo for a few years without having any problems whatsoever. all this started after the financial collapse.

going to go ahead and make the switch though. credit unions are good, it disrupts the balance of power.

[dirk4mvp]

You should consult stretch. I think he used to work at a credit union actually, until he took a shit in his boss' desk which was yellow, same color as his skin.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

I've had a pretty good experience with Chase Bank. No minimum balance required, no fees other than the few times I've overdrafted, and I've gotten like $300 back in rewards the last few years. Not sure if they're that good when it's a non-student account but they've been fine for me. Wells Fargo has a horrible reputation with everyone I know who's used them.

For the record, I happen to know what a credit union is, but they don't teach anything about credit unions in accounting or finance classes :lol

[mavs>spurs]

For the record, I happen to know what a credit union is, but they don't teach anything about credit unions in accounting or finance classes :lol

B-b-but my enemies were really pwning me hard with that shtick :cry


Seriously, what a couple of dumbshits.

[ChumpDumper]

B-b-but my enemies were really pwning me hard with that shtick :cry


Seriously, what a couple of dumbshits.They don't teach you how many quarters make a dollar either, yet somehow you know -- don't you?

I shouldn't make such assumptions.

[mavs>spurs]

It's okay you don't have to qualify it I forgive you, MIG is a different story though. You choose to be a dumbass for entertainment, he just is one tbh.

[MannyIsGod]

Pay me to manage money when I can't manage my own!

[mavs>spurs]

I'm going to manage the finances for an online dating service for people already in relationships tbh, your bitch will be my first customer.

[ChumpDumper]

It's okay you don't have to qualify it I forgive you, MIG is a different story though. You choose to be a dumbass for entertainment, he just is one tbh.lol qualify

lol defensive

lol wells fargo

[MannyIsGod]

I'm going to manage the finances for an online dating service for people already in relationships tbh, your bitch will be my first customer.

:lol Explain to me again how this doesn't bother you.

[mavs>spurs]

you got the smug prideful obnoxious be@ner thing down pat dont ya

[TDMVPDPOY]

for every transaction, at the end of the month it all adds up, either move ur funds to a new institution...

[vy65]

I've had no problems with BOA. Their cash back program isn't bad either.

:lolcc:lolunting
Ut:lol
:lollex j:lolnes

[Jacob1983]

http://i.qkme.me/3p0vcl.jpg

[Agloco]

smh

And the m>s greatest hits tour keeps rolling along.

[vy65]

Lol in law school, we didn't go over what a law firm is.

UT:lol

[MannyIsGod]

:lmao

[DMC]

You don't need to move anything to a credit union and that wasn't the point of the OP. He was concerned that a bank is instituting fees without notifying him. Telling him the solution is to go to a credit union is like giving relationship advice to find another woman. I am pretty sure he's aware there are other banking options and that there are other women.

The comfort some of you find in piling on is hilarious.

Now to address the OP.

I've found that most banks (never dealt with Wells Fargo) do notify you through their own website email that you have to be registered to actually get. I hardly read mine but I am aware it's there.

Sounds like you had a bad experience. I dumped a bank once after they got repeatedly altered their standards (almost daily) as to find loopholes for charging or denying you. I used to write my own expense reimbursement checks and had to have matching numbers on a ledger that the bank had to see. That was their rule. Half the time they wouldn't even ask for it, but if I didn't have it they would say "oh no sir, we always have to see that". I started asking "why didn't you ask for my ledger?" and they would say things like "we don't really need to see that". I finally caught two of these clowns working the same day and confronted them. They both denied knowing anything about it.

So yeah, they fuck you in the drive through.

[DMC]

Lol in law school, we didn't go over what a law firm is.

UT:lol
What school did you attend?

[vy65]

What school did you attend?

ut, tbh

[AFBlue]

Go with Chase

[DMC]

ut, tbh
:lol

[The Reckoning]

yeah ever since i moved out of the country its been nearly impossible to deal with wells fargo in transferring my funds into my new account.

to transfer money into an international account, i have to call some number and press and say numbers to get a number...but that original phone number doesn't work, and some chinese lady goes on the phone, yells at me in mandarin and hangs up after 3 seconds.

ultimately i had to give total control of my account over to someone i trust so they can wire my funds to me. fucking insane how complicated they made it.

i told them i was moving out of the country but they still canned my card when i tried to use it...then someone stole my number and made a counterfeit card back in the states and wells fargo let it through!


guess who gets stuck with all their bullshit financing fees and purchase fees? me.

[mouse]

So I've been involved in a long lengthy battle with Wells Fargo

You had me at Wells.



http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/RackTheMouse/kingsfan/rackthemouse-blue.jpg

[mouse]

Go with Chase

:toast


http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/RackTheMouse/bored/mac.gif

[boutons_deux]

Problems Riddle Moves to Collect Credit Card Debt

The same problems that plagued the foreclosure process - and prompted a multibillion-dollar settlement with big banks - are now emerging in the debt collection practices of credit card companies.

As they work through a glut of bad loans, companies like American Express, Citigroup and Discover Financial are going to court to recoup their money. But many of the lawsuits rely on erroneous documents, incomplete records and generic testimony from witnesses, according to judges who oversee the cases.

Lenders, the judges said, are churning out lawsuits without regard for accuracy, and improperly collecting debts from consumers. The concerns echo a recent abuse in the foreclosure system, a practice known as robo-signing in which banks produced similar documents for different homeowners and did not review them.

"I would say that roughly 90 percent of the credit card lawsuits are flawed and can't prove the person owes the debt," said Noach Dear, a civil court judge in Brooklyn, who said he presided over as many as 100 such cases a day.

Last year, American Express sued Felicia Tancreto, claiming that she had stopped making payments and owed more than $16,000 on her credit card.

While Ms. Tancreto was behind on her payments, she contested owing the full amount, according to court records. In April, Judge Dear dismissed the lawsuit, citing a lack of evidence. The American Express employee who testified, the judge noted, provided generic testimony about the way the company maintained its records. The same witness gave similar evidence in other cases, which the judge said amounted to "robo-testimony."

American Express and other credit card companies defended their practices. Sonya Conway, a spokeswoman for American Express, said, "we strongly disagree with Judge Dear's comments and believe that we have a strong process in place to ensure accuracy of testimony and affidavits provided to courts."

Interviews with dozens of state judges, regulators and lawyers, however, indicated that such flaws are increasingly common in credit card suits. In certain instances, lenders are trying to collect money from consumers who have already paid their bills or increasing the size of the debts by adding erroneous fees and interest costs.

The scope of the lawsuits is vast. Some consumers dispute that they owe money at all. More commonly, borrowers are behind on their payments but contest the size of their debts.

The problem, according to judges, is that credit card companies are not always following the proper legal procedures, even when they have the right to collect money. Certain cases hinge on mass-produced documents because the lenders do not provide proof of the outstanding debts, like the original contract or payment history.

At times, lawsuits include falsified credit card statements, produced years after borrowers supposedly fell behind on their bills, according to the judges and others in the industry.

"This is robo-signing redux," Peter Holland, a lawyer who runs the Consumer Protection Clinic at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

Lawsuits against credit card borrowers are flooding the courts, according to the judges. While the amount of bad debt has fallen since the financial crisis, lenders are trying to work through the soured loans and clean up their books. In all, borrowers are behind on $18.7 billion of credit card debt, or roughly 3 percent of the total, according to Equifax and Moody's Analytics.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=959716&f=19

Just another way the financial sector steals citizens' money.

[boutons_deux]

Will We Have to Wait for a 21st Century Peasants’ Revolt Before Seeing Any Real Change?

Financial criminals throughout history have been beaten, tortured and even put to death, with little evidence that severe punishments have consistently deterred people from misconduct that could make them rich.

The history of drastic punishment for financial crimes may be nearly as old as wealth itself.

The Code of Hammurabi, more than 3,700 years ago, stipulated that any Mesopotamian who violated the terms of a financial contract – including the futures contracts that were commonly used in commodities trading in Babylon – “shall be put to death as a thief.” The severe penalty doesn’t seem to have eradicated such cheating, however.

In medieval Catalonia, a banker who went bust wasn’t merely humiliated by town criers who declaimed his failure in public squares throughout the land; he had to live on nothing but bread and water until he paid off his depositors in full. If, after a year, he was unable to repay, he would be executed – as in the case of banker Francesch Castello, who was beheaded in 1360. Bankers who lied about their books could also be subject to the death penalty.

In Florence during the Renaissance, the Arte del Cambio – the guild of mercantile money-changers who facilitated the city’s international trade – made the cheating of clients punishable by torture. Rule 70 of the guild’s statutes stipulated that any member caught in unethical conduct could be disciplined on the rack “or other corrective instruments” at the headquarters of the guild.

But financial crimes weren’t merely punished; they were stigmatized. Dante’s Inferno is populated largely with financial sinners, each category with its own distinctive punishment: misers who roll giant weights pointlessly back and forth with their chests, thieves festooned with snakes and lizards, usurers draped with purses they can’t reach, even forecasters whose heads are wrenched around backward to symbolize their inability to see what is in front of them.

Counterfeiting and forgery, as the historian Marvin Becker noted in 1976, “were much less prevalent in Florence during the second half of the fourteenth century than in Tuscany during the twentieth century” and “the bankruptcy rate stood at approximately one-half [the modern rate].”

In England, counterfeiting was punishable by death starting in the 14th century, and altering the coinage was declared a form of high treason by 1562.

In the 17th century, the British state cracked down ferociously on counterfeiters and “coin-clippers” (who snipped shards of metal off coins, yielding scraps they could later melt down or resell). The offenders were thrown into London’s notorious Newgate prison. The lucky ones, after being dragged on planks through sewage-filled streets, were hanged. Others were smeared with tar from head to toe, tied or shackled to a stake, and then burned to death.

The British government was so determined to stamp out these financial crimes that it put Sir Isaac Newton on the case. Appointed as warden of the Royal Mint in 1696, Newton promptly began uncovering those who violated the financial laws of the nation with the same passion he brought to discovering the physical laws of the universe.

The great scientist was tireless and merciless. Newton went undercover, donning disguises to prowl through prisons, taverns and other dens of iniquity in search of financial fraud. He had suspects brought to the Mint, often by force, and interrogated them himself. In a year and a half, says historian Carl Wennerlind, Newton grilled 200 suspects, “employing means that sometimes bordered on torture.”

When one counterfeiter begged Newton to save him from the gallows – “O dear Sr no body can save me but you O God my God I shall be murderd unless you save me O I hope God will move your heart with mercy and pitty to do this thing for me” – Newton coldly refused.

The counterfeiter was hanged two weeks later.

Until at least the early 19th century, it remained commonplace for counterfeiters and forgers to be put to death; between 1792 and 1829, for example, notes Wennerlind, 618 people were convicted of counterfeiting British paper currency, and most of them were hanged. Many were women.

During the “Good Parliament” of 1376, public discontent over [manipulation of currency exchange rates similar to the current Libor scandal] came to a head. The Commons, represented by the speaker, Peter de la Mare, accused leading members of the royal court of abusing their position to profit from public funds.

A particular target was the London financier Richard Lyons ….

Initially the government bowed to public pressure. Lyons was imprisoned in the Tower of London and his properties and wealth were confiscated. Other leading courtiers implicated in these abuses, such as Latimer and the king’s mistress, Alice Perrers, were banished from court.

Once parliament had dissolved and the public outcry had died down, however, the king’s eldest son, John of Gaunt, acted to reverse the verdicts of the Good Parliament. Latimer and Perrers soon reappeared at the king’s side and Lyons was released from the Tower and recovered his wealth, while the “whistleblower” de la Mare was thrown in jail. The government also sought to appease the wealthy knights and merchants that dominated parliament by imposing a new, regressive form of taxation, a poll tax paid by everyone rather than a tax levied on goods. This effectively passed the burden of royal finance down to the peasantry.

It seemed as though everything had returned to business as normal and Lyons appeared to have gotten away with it. In 1381, however, simmering discontent over continuing suspicions of government corruption and the poll tax contributed to a massive popular uprising, the Peasants’ Revolt, during which leading government ministers, including Simon of Sudbury (the chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury) and Robert Hales (the treasurer) were executed by the rebels. This time, Lyons did not escape; he was singled out, dragged from his house and beheaded in the street.

The question now is whether public outrage at the Libor scandal and other financial misdeeds [like these] will lead to fundamental reforms of the financial sector — such as the separation of retail and investment banking or legislation to regulate the “bonus culture” — or just more cosmetic changes that fail to address the structural issues.


http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/08/will-the-peasants-go-medieval-on-bankers.html

[TeyshaBlue]

Here, UTA.

http://www.mycreditunion.gov/Pages/mcu-map.aspx

[SnakeBoy]

I don't know why some of you are jumping on mavs>spurs. I've had a similar experience with bad service, except it was at McDonalds. They have repeatedly served me cold burgers, soggy fries, one time they didn't give me the correct change. It's sucks but I just keep going back. Are all fast food places like this? Anyone know if there are other fast food choices available in this country?

[DMC]

I don't know why some of you are jumping on mavs>spurs. I've had a similar experience with bad service, except it was at McDonalds. They have repeatedly served me cold burgers, soggy fries, one time they didn't give me the correct change. It's sucks but I just keep going back. Are all fast food places like this? Anyone know if there are other fast food choices available in this country?
You gotta go where your family works I think.

[LnGrrrR]

I'm with Randolph Brooks FCU, and I've stayed a member even though I haven't been local to San Antonio for the last 7 years or so.