Minilla Island Banking System Rocked

[Minilla Island]

=============================================COMBINED DISPATCHES======================================================

HAZZARD, Neutrallis (RNAMI)- It what is considered to be the biggest collapse in the history of Minilla Island economics, the Hazzard-based Neutrallis National Bank was declared insolvent after a Royal Audit showed the 88-year old bank over MI$4 Billion in debt. The Government immediately ordered the bank's closure to ensure the deposits
of its customers. An internal investigation showed that the Trading Department was investing in risky bond shares within the old People's Republic of China in violation of National Law. When the PRC ceased to exist, the Trading Department attempted to mask the losses by creating fake accounts, and attempting to win back the money on various junk bonds and investing in various Selenarctan and Australian companies. The Attorney General is currently seeking indictments on a National level against those responsible.

In the meantime, the Royal Reserve and the National Bank Assurance Group will attempt to clean up the damage and windup orders for the once venerable institution.

=============================================END========================================================================

[iKrolm]

[b]News Report:[/b]

The Selenarctan stock exchange dropped almost 10% today, falling to 12% below opening then making a 2% recovery before close. The sudden drop was triggered news that the Neutrallis National Bank had gone bankrupt with significant investment in the Selenarctan exchange. Government officials from the Economic Division were quick to point out that while the bankruptcy was not a matter to be passed off lightly, there was no need to panic and that the Selenarctan economy would remain strong regardless. The Economic Division has not announced if it will extend financial assistance to afflicted Selenarctan companies, but press releases earlier today have analysts predicting the government's purse strings will remain closed.

[AironthFlamewing]

News Report:

The Idaho-Montana stock exchange dropped 100 points today, falling to 11,520 points which was below the opening. The sudden drop was triggered by news that the Neutrallis National Bank had gone bankrupt with a ripple effect washing up against the Idahoan Exchange. Government officials from the Treasury were quick to point out that while the bankruptcy was only a minor matter and that the people only needed to redouble their work ethics and everything will turn out for the better in the Kingdom. There was no need to panic and that the Idahoan economy would remain strong regardless.

[Triyun]

Alarmed by the move and potential contagion effect, the UFE central bank announced measures to ensure continued safety of currency swaps in the region, and will counter deflationary pressures by ensuring the money supply of the UFE renminbi would be sufficient.

The Singapore stock exchange has been shut down for the day while authorities assess issues relating the particularly locally exposed southern outpost of the UFE.

Premier Wei when asked to comment on the situation responded, "The United Federation of the East was facing a slightly abnormally strong inflationary cycle prior to this, we expect inflation to decrease, but the economy still will be growing at a brisk pace, the government stands ready to ensure this. Rest assured the UFE will not permit deflation or a credit crunch to occur in the Asia Pacific economic zone.

At the same time, government credit rating agencies were privately directed to review the MI Financial System as a whole to determine just what the scale of the problems were and if broad based changed to ratings were in order.

The UFE sovereign wealth fund was ordered to begin investing in companies in both the Minilla Islands and Selenarctos which had been considered world class producers but were hit by the downturn.

[Minilla Island]

[center][b][size="7"][font="Impact"]THE BRIDGE STREET JOURNAL[/font][/size][/b][/center]
[center][b][size="4"][font="Times New Roman"]The Definitive Source for Minilla Island Finance[/font][/size][/b][/center]

[center][font="Times New Roman"][i][size="6"]NATION ROCKED IN BANKING SCANDAL, RAND/KILEY INDEX DROPS 10% IN THREE HOURS,[/size][/i][/font][/center]
[center][font="Times New Roman"][i][size="6"]GODZILLA EXCHANGE HALTS TRADES IN ATTEMPT TO PREVENT NATIONAL PANIC.[/size][/i][/font][/center]

PAGE ONE: NEUTRALLIS COLLAPSE WORSE THAN SUSPECTED?

The Neutrallis National Bank, an institution that many considered to be one of the anchors of the nation's, if not Asia's, economic stability, has suffered what many consider the most stunning collapse since the venerable European institution, Baring's PLC, collapsed several years ago. How an institution that was as conservative in its practices was allowed to go out of control as it did is for the National Attorney and regulators to decide. What is known is that several members of Neutrallis National's Trading Department went rogue on junk bonds, Futures contracts and Derivatives. It all started three years ago when relations between the old People's Republic of China and Minilla Island were thawing. Members of the Trading Department decided to create an underground account in order to hide it from regulators, but keep it on the Bank's books. This required keeping a second set of books for the Trading Department. When the PRC ceased, those futures were rendered useless. Instead of calling it a day, they decided to invest in Selenarctan and Australian derivatives and junk bonds. They were betting against the Selenarctan economy and futures. When this did not materialize, they were reportedly attempting to invest in futures in Cochin when the scandal was uncovered. How this was allowed is anyone's guess, but it shows a stunning lack of institutional control unheard of in banking history.

In the meantime, the official number the Finance Ministry is quoting is MI$4 billion in deficit due to the rogue trading. However, some insiders are saying that this could ba as much as MI$10 billion that Neutrallis National is in the hole. Dr. Kenneth Mann, Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Rand School of Economics at the University of Rolisica, sees very little parallel with the Barings collapse, "These people made Nick Leeson look like an amateur. To say that the Neutrallis brass was asleep at the switch is one of history's greatest understatements." Mark Agoado, the former footballer who got his MBA in Economics, and now sits on the Royal Council of Economic Advisers advises, "What people need to realize that this is not like the Barings collapse. It is much, much worse. This was an entire department involved in this. Eihter the higher ups were asleep at the wheel, complicit in these activities, or just did not care is anyone's guess. All I know is that this was a spectacular breach of depositor, and the public's, trust."

What is unknown is the funds of the depositors. Lines at various branches have stretched for blocks after the announcement of insolvency was made. What many are looking at is the various business and trust accounts. Two of the biggest philanthropic trust accounts, the Testani Trust and the Coaltrain Family Foundation, are housed in Neutrallis National. Though the leaders of these trusts were guardedly optimistic. "Our philanthropic endeavors will continue." claimed Testani Trust Chairman, Franco Testani. "As long as our accounts were not used in this horrible breach, we will continue as usual." claimed R. Philip Coaltrain III of the Coaltrain Family Foundation. Though the foundations may be out of danger due to the National Charities Act, regular depositors will have a rough time getting all their monies. Businesses are worried about payrolls, and layoffs may occur. However, in the meantime, all this nation can do, is wait.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Minilla Island

[Shadowsage]

Imperial Stock exchanges faced little direct impact as a result of the collapse in Minilla Island. However, the very nature of such happenings inspires panic in those people with weaker constitutions, and the market did face a slight dip just after opening due to a marked increase in selling. Thankfully the drop soon flatlined and prices finished out that day at roughly the same levels as opening. Meanwhile, the Imperial treasury has been raided in the expectations of buying up at least a part of the Minilla deficit. The Empire was prepared to stabilize a nation's finances as well as ensure a tidy profit in the future.

[Lynneth]

Sri Lanka's stock exchanges felt a considerable drop of stocks, with an average of 2% loss at the end of the first day of the Neutrallis bank collapsing.
Vaöues were beginning to rise again shortly afterwards, but with Minilla Island's economy weakened so severely, several companies, among them Sostra Holdings, began to invest heavily in both Selenarctos and Minilla Island as counter
In the meantime, the Sri Lankan government re-evaluated security measures to prevent such a catastrophe from happening in their nation, being one of Asia's largest economies by now.

Edited November 14, 2010 by Lynneth

[iKrolm]

[b]News Report:[/b]

The Selenarctan stock market closed today at under 1% below the Neutrallis bankruptcy announcement that triggered a 12% drop a week ago. While in a small part do to foreign investment, the majority of the comeback has been attributed to restored confidence in the market following reassurances that the Bank of Selenarctos is stable and the release of more information on sectors the Neutrallis National Bank invested in. While the poor investments are not to be overlooked, the amounts of money invested were small in comparison with the stock market indexes and certainly did not warrant the kind of drop seen. The government has not issued financial directly to afflicted companies, however interest rates through the Bank of Selenarctos have been lowered by 2.7% for companies suffering the aftereffects of Neutralis' collapse, and only two large corporations have reported a significant financial impact.

Finally, despite assurances issued, these events have increased public pressure on the National Bank of Selenarctos to be more transparent with it's investment records. A representative from the National Bank responded, "Current investment reporting laws are good enough and besides, how many of those demanding we release more information have read the reports we publish now?"

Edited November 14, 2010 by iKrolm

[Minilla Island]

[center][b][size="7"][font="Impact"]THE BRIDGE STREET JOURNAL[/font][/size][/b][/center]
[center][b][size="4"][font="Times New Roman"]The Definitive Source for Minilla Island Finance[/font][/size][/b][/center]

[center][i][font="Times New Roman"][size="6"]RAND/KILEY INDEX DROPS 7% ON EARLY TRADING, GODZILLA EXCHANGE HALTS TRADING FOR FOUR HOURS
YONGARY'S UEB BANK TRUST UNDER INVESTIGATION, UEB'S GRANT FAMILY CONTROL UNDER SIEGE,
PRIME MINISTER DECLARES NO KNOWLEDGE AS HALKEVI DEMANDS ACTION TO AVOID NATIONAL PANIC[/size][/font][/i][/center]

As if the Neutrallis National scandal could not get any worse, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Internal Security investigators made a pre-dawn raid of the UEB Bank Trust offices in downtown Yongary, Ophesius Province. Around the time the sun came up, UEB's COO, Derek Grant, arrived to the offices in the midst of the firestorm. Around noon, investigators backed up a tractor-trailer to collect the boxes of evidence collected from their time in the offices. In the meantime, UEB may be subject to closure at any time. This sent the market reeling early as traders were desperately trying to unload financial shares, forcing the Godzilla Stock Exchange to halt trading for four hours after the market shed almost 900 points by lunchtime. All while the Halkevi is calling for administrative action to halt what they see is an impending drop off of the Nation's economy. Furthermore, Prime Minister Grant is not commenting on the raid of the bank his family has controlled for 60 years. He mentioned to the press that he had "no knowledge" of the happenings at UEB.

The only minor miracle is that the nation's two biggest institutions, Island Bank and Bank of Rolisica, have had no issues regarding traders, as they reportedly have the strictest standards in the industry regarding traders. This is the reason why many experts believe that one of these institutions would take over Neutrallis National in an attempt to protect depositors. In the meantime, the Solicitor General is readying up an accusation package to present to the Crown Court in Hazzard. However, the human toll is already devastating. Fistfights broke out as people were running over each other in order to get their checks cashed if they were drawn on Neutrallis National. In Hazzard's Highlands section, a car crashed and exploded while speeding to get to the drive-through window, killing it's 72-year-old driver and severely injuring the 24-year-old employee at the window. It was one of the more harrowng and desperate human stories that get forgotten in times like these.

[Minilla Island]

[Center][font="Century Gothic"][size="7"][b]THE GODZILLA TIMES[/b][/size][/font][/center]
[center][font="Times New Roman"][size="4"][b]"All the News that is Fit to Publish."[/b][/size][/font][/center]

[center][b][size="7"][font="Times New Roman"]PANIC![/font][/size][/b][/center]
[center][i][b][size="6"][font="Times New Roman"]RAND/KILEY INDEX DROPS 14% ON BRIGHTON ASSURANCE BANKRUPTCY, GAMERA'S METROBANK COLLAPSE.[/font][/size][/b][/i][/center]
[center][i][b][size="6"][font="Times New Roman"]HALKEVI DECLARES "BANK HOLIDAY" AS PANIC ENGULFS THE NATION. ASIAN MARKETS TEETERING.[/font][/size][/b][/i][/center]

The current financial crisis took a turn for the worst, as Minya-based assurance giant, Brighton Assurance, will file with the Crown for bankruptcy protection with MI$1.4 Bn in debt. It is seen as a restructuring after the Neutrallis National failure. However, it did not stop the failure of Gamera-based Metrobank. Metrobank's failure is seen as very similar to the collapse of Neutrallis National. In this case, Metrobank's traders were trying to short the Selenarctan and Cochinese markets. However, they were not in the size and scope of Neutrallis National. In this case, Metrobank may have a suitor in the New Iberia based rural power, Bailey Bank. If Bailey
takes over, it would mark a march into uncharted waters for a bank that has long shunned large markets. But, Bailey is seen as a solid, if not quirky, institution.

Meanwhile, the Rand/Kiley took a giant nosedive which prompted the Halkevi to declare a Bank Holiday for two days, as regulators will be sending investigators to do a nationwide bank audit. The plan is that if it does nothing else, it should stabilize the markets for the time being. Markets in Selenarctos, Sri-Lanka and the UFE were hammered in the last few days. The Minilla Island panic as stretched across the Pacific, as the Idaho-Monatana exchange is near collapse. A worldwide panic is hoped to be avoided.

OOC: I will be going away until Thursday. WIll pick this up when I return.

[iKrolm]

[b]Private to the government of Minilla Island:[/b]

We trust your own security forces but with reports of panic amongst the populace, do not hesitate to ask if you require assistance. We can have support units on standby or ready for immediate deployment to ensure stability if necessary.

[Triyun]

The UFE Government was to have none of it. Students of history, the UFEs leaders believed in prompt action to stop economic crises at the doorstep before they were allowed to spread into the UFE. Inflation was not going to be a concern for the foreseeable future. Sell offs in equity meant one of two things, meant investors were either investing into less risky assets or hoarding cash. The former definitely happening, but since the financial maladies were in part caused by failures in the bond market and because the bond market was where investors put capital when they left stocks, this was still going to be smaller than usual. The problem would be hoarding cash or putting it in things like gold which really had no true economic value. This meant a shrinkage in loanable funds. This would not only mean businesses would be unable to make payroll, but that deflationary pressures could become reinforcing.

Premier Wei ordered drastic steps to be taken to insulate the UFE from further contamination. At Premier Wei's urging the Chairman of the Federation Reserve bank cut the interest rate for bank to bank lending, thus increasing the money supply and devaluing the renminbi. With this money the state controlled commercial banks were ordered to buy up stocks which were weakened by the dip during the week. At the same time the UFEs exports were now even cheaper than before. Further the Premier with permission from the Standing Committee of the CPCC immediately suspended payroll for the next month. This would mean that firms would be able to survive the coming few weeks while events could play out and investors would have confidence that the UFE economy could continue growth, especially with cheaper exports to the rest of the world even if their immediate neighbors entered into a recession. With any luck in fact other regional nations would follow the UFEs lead in immediately enacting aggressive fiscal and monetary responses.

The People's Liberation Army Cryptological and Cyber Command was also put on alert and secretly ordered to do something highly unconventional, prepare for a financial war. The target was short traders. With reports of banks now desperate to make up losses were using short selling in a last ditch attempt to cover their own asses, the PLA C2 would be given clearance to monitor those trading on the UFE exchanges looking for patterns of short selling. They would then ensure that these investors got burned. the goal was not to completely ruin these investors, that would be against the UFE's economic interests, but it would become clear to them that the UFEs markets were not ones which it would be profitable to short sell.

Edited November 15, 2010 by Triyun

[Subtleknifewielder]

At the news of the initial scandal, a small dip was reported in the Brisbane Stock Exchange, but panic had yet to set in, and so as the day closed out, the levels were just under where they had started. As the news progressed, however, a few of the more nearsighted individuals withdrew their holdings from any firms connected to the collapsing bank, and the exchange began to fall.

To head off this panic, the exchange was shut down for two days, to give investors a time to cool down, and to prevent panic it was announced that the government itself would invest in the affected businesses to inject more cash into the economy. Australia had already seen one depression...it would not see another.

[Minilla Island]

[Center][font="Century Gothic"][size="7"][b]THE GODZILLA TIMES[/b][/size][/font][/center]
[center][font="Times New Roman"][size="4"][b]"All the News that is Fit to Publish."[/b][/size][/font][/center]

[center][size="6"][i][font="Times New Roman"]RAND/KILEY STABILIZES AFTER 3% DROP DUE TO HALKEVI APPROVAL OF BAILEY BANK'S METROBANK TAKEOVER. BAILEY CEO FLEXES MUSCLES.
UEB SCANDAL SPREADS TO HALKEVI. PRIME MINISTER DENIES INVOLVEMENT. BATTLE BREWS OVER NEUTRALLIS NATIONAL, BRIGHTON ASSURANCE[/font][/i][/size][/center]

As the banking system continues to reel from the recent banking scandals, a ray of hope has sprung through as the New Ibaria rural financial power entered uncharted waters. Bailey Bank, after many years of eschewing urban areas in favor of small cities and rural towns, grabbed the Gamera-based Metrobank for a symbolic transfer of MI$1. Though Metrobank is currently MI$3 billion in debt, the Finance Ministry approved of Bailey taking over Metrobank's branch and lending operations, with the trading operations still in a state of flux. "We never had much of a trading operation." claimed Zuzu Hoeness, Bailey CEO, "The last thing we want to do to get into trading is bringing in a bunch of renegades." Though Bailey took a big chunk of Metrobank, Hoeness maintained that Bailey is "still a player" in the bid to take over either Brighton Assurance or Neutrallis National.

While one front on the banking panic is settled, another could bring down the Government. The UEB scandal has tagged several lawmakers in the Ophesius Parliament and in the Halkevi itself. UEB, long controlled by the Grant family, has been accused of bribing regulators on both the National and Provincial levels. Though his family has long controlled UEB, Prime Minister Grant has publicly denounced the goings on in UEB. "I have no knowledge of any criminal activity at UEB. replied the Prime Minister to a question from the Press Corps, "I am not on the Board, so I do not have any knowledge of the inner workings of UEB. As far as that goes, any criminal activity will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

While the UEB scandal grows, a battle is brewing between institutions for the carcasses of Neutrallis National and Brighton Assurance. Though Bank of Rolisica is said to be the favorites to grab the lions share of Neutrallis National, Royal Crown Bank, Green Dot, and incredibly, New Iberia's Bailey Bank, have made plays for Neutrallis National. However, most experts believe that Bailey will shore up Brighton, and drop out of the race for Neutrallis National.

[Minilla Island]

[b]*Private to Selenarctos*[/b]

Thank you for the offer. Though the panic is serious, we doubt very seriously that this will spin out of control. We will keep you up to date.

HRH King Raymond II

[Minilla Island]

==================================================RNAMI NEWS ALERT================================================

HAZZARD, Neutrallis - Barrister General files charges against traders in Neutrallis National Bank collapse. 3 Supervisors and 8 employees were named in a stinging 188-count indictment to be filed at the Crown Court. The Crown will seek to prove that the traders engaged in massive fraud and deceit to bring the banking system into disrepute.

YONGARY, Ophesius - Barrister General files 87-count indictment against 17 members of UEB Bank Trust Corp, accusing it of engaging in fraudulent trading practices, money laundering, bribery and attempting to corrupt the political and banking systems. First hearing on the indictments will take place this Thursday at the Crown Court in downtown Yongary.