The Fed Now Owns the World’s Largest Insurance Company — But Who Owns the Fed?

The Federal Reserve has assumed sweeping new powers in the last year. These increasingly controversial encroachments on the public purse warrant a closer look at the central banking scheme itself.  Who owns the Federal Reserve, who actually controls it, where does it get its money, and whose interests is it serving?

Read more . . .

16 Responses

  1. An interesting read, indeed!

    From a distant perspective, the US financial system appears like a gigantic balance which seesaws according to the weight of argument between the bankers and financial institutions represented by the Federal Reserve at one end of the balance and the government agencies and Treasury at the other end advising Congress which itself might be described as being at the fulcrum of the mechanism. Usually, the parties can go about their business with little regard for each other, but when one end of the balance demands a greater share of the resource than the other, the seesaw tips and can quickly unseat the insecurely-seated participants from both ends. A sad reflection, because their interests would seem to be best served if they act to ensure the balance is maintained.

    But what a clever trick to charge interest to the equity holder of a loan!

    Clever, but fatal.

  2. Thank you for the article. I’m however still confused about who the owners are or about how it can be stated that there are no foreign owners. From what I read its entirely possible for 21 foreign entities to own less than 5% of each of the banks owning the Fed. Not that this is likely but I am looking forward to your next article on this enigma wrapped in a mystery!

  3. We are missing a major opportunity to fix the United States. The President and Congress should buy up all the stock of the owners of the Federal Reserve.That in effect would bring the Federal Reserve under the control of Congress. This action would also let the United States Government void the National Debt since the debt would be owed to the stockholders – WE the PEOPLE.

    [url=””]Credit Card Debt[/url]

  5. Excellent article, Ellen.

    Interesting to note that what was left of the US investment firms have joined the “we’re banks” gravy train. I can see the future…The First Bank of Intel, etc. “Bailed Out Inside!”

    What kills me is that this whole “recapitalization” scheme of the banks by the Fed is predicated upon exchanging large offerings of unsecured, illiquid debt (so called “off balance sheet” assets, i.e. Credit Default Swaps (CDS))–created and abused by the banks in the first place to over extend credit–for real equity and value in our best private US companies. And, to add insult to injury, the stocks of our best companies will likely be snapped up at fire sale prices because of this self-made banking crisis. And, as an added bonus, in the long run, using this scheme the Fed and its member banks get to profit from any intrinsic value left in the companies they don’t destroy through the panic/uncertainty/working capital freezes of “unbundling” these “toxic” derivatives. Now that is some is “free market capitalism.”

    Finally, as to the question of foreign ownership of our banks, I think the answer is absolutely yes (please see impending world economic implosion for proof of ownership). When US banks were allowed to get into bed with unnamed third parties through numerous types of unregulated (credit, debt, interest, etc.) swaps, control was one of the things that was allowed to be swapped. The worthless paper the US government is about to re-monetize through auctions will be based in part upon LIBOR because, well, the toxic assets being taken over by the Fed, et al are largely unsecured assets.


    – John

  6. Thanks. Excellent points! How do you mean the CDS are exchanged for equity in private U.S. companies? I would have thought they’re being exchanged for federal securities that Paulson is having printed up for the occasion. Cheers, Ellen

  7. I was thinking of the Fed’s bailout of AIG as an example. In that case, the Fed received a 79.9% equity share in the company *including* its regulated subsidiaries (that’d be the lucrative, highly regulated insuranance assets). BAM! Kick-up banking a notch, the privately held Fed and by extention, its member banks, now control the worlds largest insurer.

    I believe this was a move to prevent or forestall the bursting of the deratives bubble. In any case, as cross-default events emerge and continue, I don’t think it will be long before most major companies, especially those that are capital intensive, will be sucked into the bailout scandle er program er TARP.

  8. The question is: does anybody want to survive the next 10 years? IF YOU DO, then FULLY RESTORE ALL of the Bill Of Rights and U.S. Constitution. STOP spraying Chemtrails and putting fluoride into water.

    STOP LYING about “biofuel” and “hybrid” autos. NEITHER holds ANY promise.

    STOP SPYING on American citizens. You are reducing productivity to near zero! THAT will destroy YOU.

    STOP CONTROLLING OTHER PEOPLE. Make someone’s busniess “yours” and you are into areas that you can’t control. Your neighbors business is NONE OF YOURS. MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.. STAY OUT of others business.

    GROW ORGANIC FOOD. Now, on an emergency basis. Starvation liims ahead. Think the Rich will escape it? They NEVER HAVE– in History. They won’t this time.

  9. Why did Lehman go bankrupt?

    Why did the FED buy AIG?

    The answer comes 21 OCT 08 as AIG must payoff insider bankruptcy bets to Goldman-Sachs and others to the tune of about $400 billion.

    AIG insured against Lehman going bankrupt. The winners want their pound of flesh. Taxpayers are now on the hook for more than 12 ounces of meat.

    Why bankrupt Lehman? Why bail AIG?

    International banking is a family affair. Scuttling Lehman was just a leveraged buyout of more taxpayer dollars. Everyone who is anyone knows this.

    The scum are emptying the tillls and running for the hills. Is there room for us in Dick’s bunker?

    Dark clouds gather by the quadrillion while scurvy dogs growl over bones.

    Hey, it’s a god eat god world!

  10. Intriguing comments. I’d like to see more on that!

  11. No real news has been forthcoming on the AIG-Lehman scandal. This is to be expected. Real news never gets reported until someone lights up the cockroaches.

    My theory that Lehman was sacrificed in order to cash in on AIG is supported by 2 recent news articles that hint at the magnitude of the scam:

    1: AIG has 8 weeks of cash left:

    Where did our $123 billion go? What now?

    2: Fees in Lehman bankruptcy reach $1.4 billion:

    Maybe not the $400 billion ceiling, but there is serious money being made trashing Lehman Bros.

    The economic pump and dump continues with so-called analysts saying the DOW has bottomed.

    Meanwhile, Bloomberg warns the DOW could drop another 5,000 next year:

    How can the DOW be 3,500 this time next year if we’re about to hit a period of large, if not hyper inflation? It could be 7,000 with the dollar devalued by half and gold at $1,500. Bread would be $6.

    History may mark the start of the Millenium Depression as summer 2007, but I think it began when the Supreme Court appointed “W.”

  12. I heard from someone with friends on Wall Street that Lehman was taken down to set an example, because they weren’t toeing the political party line. The Lehman derivatives precipitated the $700 billion bailout, so, depending on how conspiratorial you want to get, maybe it was to have a gun to hold to Congress’ head, like with the Patriot Act after 911. A gun or a bazooka . . .

  13. Folks seem to have trouble admitting that “conspiracies” exist. Anyone who suggests that financial and political high ups conspire is deemed by the “media as a conspiracy nut”.

    If this such a strange or abnormal concept, why then do we have state, federal, and international laws that address “conspiracies?” Think: RICO for one; think violent crimes such a someone being charged to conspire to commit a homicide.

    In our financial and political arena — we have lobbyists who draft federal and state bills, grease the wheels of the political voting process, in order to enrich those institutions who can ‘buy a vote”. Does this not smack of conspiring to defeat an open government for the public?

    Sec of Paulson shows up in Congress and demands to have extra-Constitutional powers to ‘save’ the financial system from doom. Does he arrive alone? No! At his side is Chairman Bernanke. Bernanke backs Paulson on Paulson’s bid for unconstitutional powers grabbing.

    Was there not a conspiracy of silence in the Halls of Congress when the more than 500 members therein (made up of mostly attorneys who at one time would have been educated in Constitutional law and limited government) remained silent about this power grab? Followed by these elected officials supporting Sec. Paulson’s power grab? Failing to stand up and object — IS a conspiracy of silence. Call this mess for what it is!

    AIG went down — Lehman Brothers went down — people in high places KNEW how rotten these institutions were and did nothing. At the very least, it was and remains a conspiracy of silence.

    WHERE is the US Attorney General’s Office and the FBI in investigating the conduct of AIG and Lehman Brothers? Does this not yet smack of another conspiracy to conceal the bad acts of these companies?

    One Texas US Congressman was kicked out of Congressional discussions by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi because he dared to QUESTION. Debate or discussion on the bailouts was crushed by Congresswoman Pelosi — if this were presented to a jury, I would have no doubt that it would find that there was a conspiracy in the Halls of Congress to assure that Sec Paulson got his power grab.

  14. Why buy the Federal Reserve?? WHy not take everything they own. They have been operating illegally since their inception. The Constitution cleary states “only congress shall coin money and set the value thereof” Since the Fed isn’t congress they are conterfitting money. When any criminal takes money, that money in confiscated or do they allow the bank robber to keep it?? The law allows for any monies owned by a drug dealer to be confiscated. It wouldn’t be hard to track down the flow of monies the Fed has illegally confiscated from the citizens. The credit river decision ruled Fed Reserve Notes are illegal forms of money
    Put Greenspan, Bernake and the rest in Jail-ignorance of the constitution is no excuse. Oh wait a minute the U.S. is really a corporation now (since the 30’s) when our sovereign nation went bankrupt to the Fed, and every court room is a military court (there is gold fringe around the flag flying in Federal court)

  15. bank dont loan out thier money or deposit


  16. What specifically can we do to start changing this situation. T Boone Pickens started a campaign to change things, why can’t we?

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