Before it collapsed, Bear was the counterparty to $13 trillion in derivative trades. On March 14, 2008, Bear’s ratings were downgraded by Moody’s, a major rating agency; and on March 16, the brokerage was bought by JPMorgan for pennies on the dollar, a token buyout designed to avoid the legal implications of bankruptcy.
The deal was backed by a $29 billion “non-recourse” loan from the Federal Reserve. “Non-recourse” meant that the Fed got only Bear’s shaky paper assets as collateral. If those proved to be worthless, JPM was off the hook. It was an unprecedented move of questionable legality; but it was said to be justified, because as one headline put it, “Fed’s Rescue of Bear Halted Derivatives Chernobyl.”
Now, in 2013, the regulator says that JPMorgan falsely represented that the mortgages underlying the securities met ‘underwriting standards’. The securities were sponsored or underwritten by the bank or two other companies it acquired, – Bear Stearns Cos and Washington Mutual Bank.
So it is scam after scam in a capitalistic economy, which is inevitably falling into the darkest pit from which it might never recover. The U.S. government, media and the analysts are still trying to cover the truth, as Jamie Dimon, president and chief executive officer of JPMorgan, was also symbolically placed in the corner of the room at a recent White House meeting with President Obama.
Also, Jeff Harte, an analyst with Sandler O’Neill & Partners, said, “We expect him to remain CEO. I think both board members and shareholders realize that Jamie Dimon is one of the – if not the – best bank managers out there.”
Conclusion
Insurance of liabilities is not permitted in Islam, because it involves Gharar (buying/selling something where it is not known whether what is being bought/sold will actually be achieved/delivered, or in what specific quantity, thus putting one’s money at undue risk to being lost). Allah has forbidden all transactions that are based on transactions that involve deceit, as a mercy to this Ummah, and to protect them from that which may harm them.
If the U.S. economy is to recover, the solution is as simple as to nationalize the Federal Reserve Bank and give the control of the money supply to the government. The Swiss government has been hiding trillions of unaccounted dollars that should be resupplied into the economy; and all credit derivatives, interests and related schemes should be banned altogether.
