FIDE Finances

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 13th February, 2018, 02:40 PM

Re: FIDE Finances

FIDE Finances

February 13, 2018

The Telegraph chimes in on the loss of the FIDE bank:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018...ident-accused/

Excerpts:

In a letter published on the Fide website, treasurer Dr Adrian Siegel revealed UBS had shut its bank accounts and the federation faces a "serious problem" paying bills just weeks before the Candidates, its flagship world championship play-off tournament in Berlin which has a prize fund of $460,000.

It is doubtful whether any other bank will agree to take on Fide's accounts while Mr Ilyumzhinov remains president. Mr Ilyumzhinov, an eccentric former politician who claims he was abducted by aliens twice, has reigned as the king of chess for 23 years.

But after the US Department of Justice's decision to investigate him, rumours of back-stabbing and in-fighting began to swirl around Fide.

The embattled head was unable to attend the 2016 world chess championship held in New York for fear of arrest and became increasingly sidelined.

Last year, Fide officially announced Mr Ilyumzhinov had stepped down but then backtracked when the former head of the Russian semi-autonomous republic of Kalmykia insisted it was "fake news".

In a comment a spokesperson for UBS said: "We can't comment on whether individuals or organizations are clients of UBS. We follow all laws and regulations that are applicable to us."

**Sid Belzberg** · Tuesday, 13th February, 2018, 07:03 PM

Re: FIDE Finances

Until Kirsan is kicked out it will get worst, first the banks, next Chess federations will be forced to cease and desist doing business with FIDE as well as tournament organizers arbiters etc. It was predicted that Kasparov would be the destruction of FIDE by certain Kasparov detractors here but they had it ass backwards! Time to drain the FIDE swamp! Kirsan should have never been allowed to be involved with FIDE in any way shape or form after the sanctions were imposed. One should never underestimate OFAC. They are not easily fooled. Kirsan's past assurances of being removed from the sanctions list is utter nonsense. Out of 15,000 people that made it to this list almost no one has left it.
https://www.treasury.gov/about/organ...s-Control.aspx

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43053626

**Neil Frarey** · Wednesday, 14th February, 2018, 02:20 AM

Re: FIDE Finances

And what does that say about those who support(ed) Ilyumzhinov ... such as the Chess Federation of Canada's very own Drkulec?

Prolly too late to collect that missing 60k?

Time to drain the CFC swamp!

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43053626

**Vlad Drkulec** · Wednesday, 14th February, 2018, 06:48 AM

Re: FIDE Finances

I was going to make some reference the beam in Neil's eye but perhaps it is just a parasitic worm or 14 of them....

https://twitter.com/i/moments/963525...=244+273027088

**David Ottosen** · Wednesday, 14th February, 2018, 02:57 PM

Re: FIDE Finances

As long as FIDE officials can still receive their monthly bribes, the crisis will be ignored

**Victor Plotkin** · Thursday, 15th February, 2018, 11:01 AM

Re: FIDE Finances

4 years ago, after 2014-Olympiad in Tromso I wrote an article for the CFC magazine. Here some related parts (copy-paste):

"The FIDE presidential campaign was very active this year and attracted a lot of attention in Canada. Long and hot discussions about the Canadian vote took the central place on different Canadian chess forums. I have to say, this issue wasn't so critical for the Canadian Team in Norway. We never discussed this campaign on our team meetings. From individual conversations with the players, I know that they had different opinions, but no one was really care about the result of the election. Counting players and captains, Ilyumzhinov was slightly more popular for our team in general.

Kasparov spent whole 2 weeks in Norway, trying to improve his chances. The slogans with his picture were almost everywhere in Tromso. However, his loss was imminent. I expected him to lose long time ago, but the final voting score 110 - 61 surprised myself. I was positive about Garry's ability to perform better than Karpov did 4 year ago; but actually the difference was even bigger this time. My personal prediction is that Kirsan will lose the next elections, maybe even to Garry. Although, I would prefer to see another person for this position.

The main reason for this forecast is a current strong and fast deterioration in economical and political situation in Russia."

**Nigel Hanrahan** · Wednesday, 21st February, 2018, 03:56 PM

Show us the original letter, Mr. Treasurer! If there is one!

Canadian GM Kevin Spraggett has weighed in on this issue. And, from what Spraggett notes, it sure seems like most of this thread is simply re-gurgitated animal droppings. lol.

FIDE caught lying about UBS closure !!

Originally posted by GM Kevin Spraggett

It had been suspected for atleast 8 months that the FIDE executive board had been using the FIDE website in a politically motivated dis-information campaign in an effort to discredit the democratically elected FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

The latest example of dis-information appears to be an over-baked letter dated February 12 from the FIDE treasurer Dr. Adrian Siegel, claiming that FIDE's bank in Switerzland, UBS, was closing its bank account effective immediately. Dr. Siegel presented no evidence to back up this claim.

When contacted, a UBS spokesperson refused to confirm or deny the allegation, stating that any information about clients accounts is confidential.

The FIDE president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, yesterday had his London solicitor, Nigel Kushner, make the following comment:

"Mr Kirsan Ilyumzhinov denies the outrageous and false allegations made against him and is not aware that FIDE's bank accounts have been frozen by UBS. Mr Ilyumzhinov believes that the allegations form part of an ongoing smear campaign related to a power struggle at FIDE in advance of elections taking place this year.

Readers will recall that news of the February 12 letter quickly spread thru MSM, none of which questioned the veracity of the facts. Today, 4 days later, calmer heads prevail and now calls for the treasurer's resignation are beginning to be heard.

I will keep my readers up to date as this story develops....

Readers might also want to take a quick peek at a shoddy piece of journalism over at Chess.Com by Peter Dogger where he quotes the disgraced FIDE treasurer as saying that MSM's coverage on the subject was all based on "a misunderstanding".

Famous last words! - the sad truth is that Siegel has absolutely no credibilty left after screwing and misleading everybody: Kirsan, UBS, Reuters, The Telegraph Bloomberg and numerous other MSM icons, as well as the entire gullible online chess community.

See http://www.spraggettonchess.com/fide-caught-lying/

Supplemental: Kirsan takes his gloves off!

A word of caution here. Spraggett's articles are worth taking a look at, but his weblog is practically pornographic with photos of nude women, etc., so be warned.

**Sid Belzberg** · Wednesday, 21st February, 2018, 06:40 PM

Re: Show us the original letter, Mr. Treasurer! If there is one!

Originally posted by Nigel Hanrahan View Post

Canadian GM Kevin Spraggett has weighed in on this issue. And, from what Spraggett notes, it sure seems like most of this thread is simply re-gurgitated animal droppings. lol.

FIDE caught lying about UBS closure !!

See http://www.spraggettonchess.com/fide-caught-lying/

Supplemental: Kirsan takes his gloves off!

A word of caution here. Spraggett's articles are worth taking a look at, but his weblog is practically pornographic with photos of nude women, etc., so be warned.

In the second article FIDE Treasurer Siegel replies to the purported issues Kirsan alleges. Looks to me like Siegel initial letter is accurate. FIDE is clearly damaged almost beyond repair.
Adrian Siegel wrote:
"Following my letter dated February 12, 2018, several questions and rumors have come up. In particular, complete misunderstanding has been seen among journalists. Therefore, the most common questions and rumors shall be addressed below in order to set the records straight:

• Is FIDE or Kirsan Ilyumzhinov on the sanction list of the U.S. Department of the Treasury?

It is not comprehensible at all that the rumor has come up that FIDE might be on the sanction list. In the letter of February 12, this was clearly written.

The sports association FIDE was never on the sanction list of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

On the contrary, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as private person is on the sanction list of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Of course, we can’t avoid that some companies (potential sponsors) or some private persons do not distinguish among this fact and just say ‘if the president of FIDE is on the sanction list then the entire FIDE is on this list’.

• Are FIDE’s accounts frozen?

In the letter dated February 12, 2018, it was clearly written that the Swiss bank UBS will close our accounts but it has not been said that our accounts are or will be frozen. Our accounts are not frozen at all and FIDE is completely functional with its finances.

• Is FIDE bankrupt?

This is another claim without basis. In 2016, Fide has made a surplus of around 850,000 euros and in 2017 FIDE had another surplus of around 500,000 euros. Moreover, FIDE’s assets could have been substantially augmented again. Therefore, allegations of bankruptcy have to be seen as cheap propaganda.

• How can Kirsan Ilyumshinov ‘damage’ FIDE if he has withdrawn from “any legal, financial and business operations of FIDE”?

As it was written in the letter dated February 12, 2018, FIDE’s Presidential Board decided on December 6, 2015, that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov withdraws from “any legal, financial and business operations of FIDE”. Hereby, there was made a strong statement in order to show that FIDE is not involved in Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s private business at all and this message has been forwarded to our bank as well. However, despite this clear decision of the Presidential Board (with acceptance by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov) in the following months Kirsan Ilyumzhinov travelled around the world and repeatedly stated that he is still fully in charge in FIDE. Of course, hereby others became confused and wondered whether Kirsan Ilyumzhinov had withdrawn from legal, financial and operational functions or he remained in his previous complete functions. Therefore, the decision of December 6, 2015, has been repeatedly renewed by the Presidential Board but the problem remained.

• Why doesn’t FIDE just remove Kirsan Ilyumzhinov from his presidency?

In FIDE’s statute this option is not given. Thus, a president remains in his/her position for the entire elected term. This means, if an elected person does not want to resign from his/her position it is very difficult to handle such a problem.

However, to protect FIDE the Presidential Board went as far as the statute allows (see above).

• Isn’t the letter of February 12, 2018, just a maneuver prior to the election in September 2018?

Not at all. It isn’t comprehensible how an independent Swiss bank should have been pressed for a decision. Moreover, since FIDE is facing technical problems for payments without an account no one has any interest in this process of the UBS. The closure of the accounts is a fact made by the bank and not by us. Thus, this is definitely not a pre-election maneuver.

I hope that it was possible to address sufficiently the questions and baseless rumors. Indeed, FIDE faces a problem due to the presence of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov on the sanction list of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The main effort of FIDE has now to be that it has not to suffer from any personal problems. I can assure you that the treasurer and the office in Athens are working hard to find a good solution for FIDE.

Sincerely yours

Prof. Dr. Adrian M. Siegel FIDE Treasurer[/quote}
https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9530&start=45#p211432"

**Sid Belzberg** · Wednesday, 21st February, 2018, 06:41 PM

Re: Show us the original letter, Mr. Treasurer! If there is one!

Originally posted by Nigel Hanrahan View Post

Canadian GM Kevin Spraggett has weighed in on this issue. And, from what Spraggett notes, it sure seems like most of this thread is simply re-gurgitated animal droppings. lol.

FIDE caught lying about UBS closure !!

See http://www.spraggettonchess.com/fide-caught-lying/

Supplemental: Kirsan takes his gloves off!

A word of caution here. Spraggett's articles are worth taking a look at, but his weblog is practically pornographic with photos of nude women, etc., so be warned.

In the second article FIDE Treasurer Siegel replies to the purported issues Kirsan alleges. Looks to me like Siegel's initial letter is accurate. FIDE is clearly damaged almost beyond repair.

Adrian Siegel wrote:
"Following my letter dated February 12, 2018, several questions and rumors have come up. In particular, complete misunderstanding has been seen among journalists. Therefore, the most common questions and rumors shall be addressed below in order to set the records straight:

ï¿½ Is FIDE or Kirsan Ilyumzhinov on the sanction list of the U.S. Department of the Treasury?

It is not comprehensible at all that the rumor has come up that FIDE might be on the sanction list. In the letter of February 12, this was clearly written.

The sports association FIDE was never on the sanction list of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

On the contrary, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as private person is on the sanction list of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Of course, we canï¿½t avoid that some companies (potential sponsors) or some private persons do not distinguish among this fact and just say ï¿½if the president of FIDE is on the sanction list then the entire FIDE is on this listï¿½.

ï¿½ Are FIDEï¿½s accounts frozen?

In the letter dated February 12, 2018, it was clearly written that the Swiss bank UBS will close our accounts but it has not been said that our accounts are or will be frozen. Our accounts are not frozen at all and FIDE is completely functional with its finances.

ï¿½ Is FIDE bankrupt?

This is another claim without basis. In 2016, Fide has made a surplus of around 850,000 euros and in 2017 FIDE had another surplus of around 500,000 euros. Moreover, FIDEï¿½s assets could have been substantially augmented again. Therefore, allegations of bankruptcy have to be seen as cheap propaganda.

ï¿½ How can Kirsan Ilyumshinov ï¿½damageï¿½ FIDE if he has withdrawn from ï¿½any legal, financial and business operations of FIDEï¿½?

As it was written in the letter dated February 12, 2018, FIDEï¿½s Presidential Board decided on December 6, 2015, that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov withdraws from ï¿½any legal, financial and business operations of FIDEï¿½. Hereby, there was made a strong statement in order to show that FIDE is not involved in Kirsan Ilyumzhinovï¿½s private business at all and this message has been forwarded to our bank as well. However, despite this clear decision of the Presidential Board (with acceptance by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov) in the following months Kirsan Ilyumzhinov travelled around the world and repeatedly stated that he is still fully in charge in FIDE. Of course, hereby others became confused and wondered whether Kirsan Ilyumzhinov had withdrawn from legal, financial and operational functions or he remained in his previous complete functions. Therefore, the decision of December 6, 2015, has been repeatedly renewed by the Presidential Board but the problem remained.

ï¿½ Why doesnï¿½t FIDE just remove Kirsan Ilyumzhinov from his presidency?

In FIDEï¿½s statute this option is not given. Thus, a president remains in his/her position for the entire elected term. This means, if an elected person does not want to resign from his/her position it is very difficult to handle such a problem.

However, to protect FIDE the Presidential Board went as far as the statute allows (see above).

ï¿½ Isnï¿½t the letter of February 12, 2018, just a maneuver prior to the election in September 2018?

Not at all. It isnï¿½t comprehensible how an independent Swiss bank should have been pressed for a decision. Moreover, since FIDE is facing technical problems for payments without an account no one has any interest in this process of the UBS. The closure of the accounts is a fact made by the bank and not by us. Thus, this is definitely not a pre-election maneuver.

I hope that it was possible to address sufficiently the questions and baseless rumors. Indeed, FIDE faces a problem due to the presence of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov on the sanction list of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The main effort of FIDE has now to be that it has not to suffer from any personal problems. I can assure you that the treasurer and the office in Athens are working hard to find a good solution for FIDE.

Sincerely yours

Prof. Dr. Adrian M. Siegel FIDE Treasurer[/quote}
https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9530&start=45#p211432"

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 13th May, 2018, 01:43 PM

FIDE Finances

FIDE Finances

May 13, 2018

Letter from Nigel Short to the FIDE Treasurer:

10^thMay, 2018

Dear Professor Adrian Siegel,

I have taken note of the contents of your FIDE Treasurer’s letter of 9^thMay 2018 as posted on the FIDE website. You asked for a serious discussion on the matter, so in this spirit I would like to ask the following specific questions, so that the chess world can get clarity as to how FIDE is in fact handling it.

The specific questions I would like to ask are as follows:

1. Your letter makes it clear that the FIDE funds were transferred from the UBS account on the 4^thMay 2018. Please advise

a. Where the funds have physically been sent?

b. The name of the bank or financial institution that is currently holding the funds as well as the country where this entity is domiciled?

2. You mention that a trust company is involved. Kindly advise

a. What is the structure of the new entity that currently controls FIDE’s funds?

b. If the funds are held by a Trust company, as alluded to in your letter, please provide the names of the trustees and advise where the controlling Trust company is legal domiciled?

3. Please advise if the above transaction was approved in any way by either the FIDE Executive board or the FIDE Presidential Board?

a. If yes, please advise when this approval was sought and granted?

b. If no, please confirm the names or identify the body or group of individuals who are legally responsible for FIDE’s decision to transfer the funds from the UBS account to the entity above?

4. Please explain how the current arrangement meets the legal, KYC and compliance standards of the institute that has accepted the funds (where more than 20+ reputable global banks have previously refused to open an account for the purpose of receiving the same payment)?

5. By your own admission, the funds were transferred from the UBS account on 4^thMay 2018. Your published letter states however that the contract was only signed on 9^thMay with the Trust Company. Please therefore explain how and why FIDE funds were transferred out of the UBS account without any contract being in place between FIDE and the receiving entity?

Answers to the questions above would bring much needed clarity to the members, presidents and chairpersons to whom your published letter is addressed, as well as to the members of the global chess community in whose interests FIDE is expected to act.

Election politics aside, the chess world deserves a straight answer to the questions posed above.

Regards
GM Nigel Short
FIDE Presidential Candidate,

Athens, Greece

https://twitter.com/nigelshortchess?...Ctwgr%5Eauthor

(The reply to this letter is in the next posting)

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 13th May, 2018, 01:45 PM

Re: FIDE Finances

FIDE Finances

May 13, 2018

FIDE Treasurer’s Letter posted Sunday, May 13 at:

http://fide.com/component/content/ar...rs-letter.html

FIDE Letterhead

Zug, May 12, 2018

To: All National Chess Federations, members of FIDE

Dear chess friends,

As you already know, UBS has closed FIDE’s bank accounts in Switzerland. During the recent meeting of the FIDE board in Minsk, it was agreed that the Executive should try to find solutions regarding FIDE’s funds were UBS to enforce their decision (which they finally did on April 30^th).

Today, we are in a position to announce that FIDE has opened temporary fiduciary accounts with Kei Trading Services Ltd (Hong Kong) and Arkion SA (Switzerland). After UBS froze our money for three days, FIDE’s money was transferred on May 4^th. As previously informed, there was no alternative because UBS made it clear that they (were) no longer prepared to provide banking facilities.

The transactions were handled in their entirety by our Swiss lawyers and at no stage were the funds at risk. Although the transfer was completed under the supervision of our lawyers on May 4^th, the contracts were only finalized a few days later as signatories were in different countries.

The Presidential Board has decided that the fiduciary accounts mentioned above will be operated by FIDE’s treasurer and FIDE’s Executive Director signing jointly.

In a recent question addressed to me by Nigel Short I was asked “how the current arrangement meets the legal, KYC and compliance standards of the institute” (KYC, know your customer). I would refer Nigel to the Head of the Compliance at the trust companies. Further information on the trust companies assisting FIDE is readily obtainable online.

Until we are in a position to open a regular bank account in Europe, a task which as become increasingly difficult due to the US sanctions imposed on Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, these fiduciary accounts will be used to hold FIDE assets safely.

At this time, it should be obvious to all who have FIDE’s interests at heart that unsubstantiated speculation and false statements regarding FIDE’s finances do not help the objective of reinstating FIDE into the international banking system. We hope that the intentions of those spreading such rumours is not to create problems for FIDE’s daily operations in the period before elections. We ask that low-level campaign tactics from candidates for FIDE office cease and we are confident the vast majority of national chess federations support our efforts.

In addition, in the spirit of complete transparency, I would like to invite Nigel Short to make an appointment to visit the FIDE office in Athens (where Nigel lives) so that he can inspect the documents and satisfy himself all is in order.

Sincerely yours,

Prof. Dr. Adrian M. Siegel
FIDE Treasurer

**Larry Bevand** · Monday, 14th May, 2018, 07:08 PM

Re: FIDE Finances

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for keeping us informed about this.

Any organization that can produce a surplus of about 2 million dollars (Canadian) in the last two years of operation, can't be doing that badly. Yes I know, they have issues to tackle.

Does anyone know the net worth of FIDE?

Larry

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 14th May, 2018, 09:22 PM

Re: FIDE Finances

FIDE Finances

May 14, 2018

To get an idea of the money coming in to FIDE each year, look at:

Financial Regulations

https://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.h...&view=category

The annual statement of income and expenses for 2015 can be seen at:

https://www.fide.com/images/stories/...16/Annex_1.pdf

Peter Doggers wrote an article on these financial accounts for 2015 at:

https://www.chess.com/news/view/is-f...-bankrupt-3846

Part of what he wrote in the article:

Is FIDE Going Bankrupt?

Chess Event Coverage

The financial accounts for 2015 show an alarming decrease of the World Chess Federation's assets. An extensive reform of FIDE's internal structure seems inevitable to guarantee a healthy continuity.

As part of the agenda for the upcoming General Assembly in September in Baku, FIDE has published its financial statement of income & expenses for 2015. The figures show that its reserve fund has decreased from €1,287,551 to €332,343, a staggering decrease of 74 percent. The federation spent €955,208 more than it earned last year. Something similar happened in 2014, when FIDE's funds decreased from €2,011,156 to €1,287,551.

In 2015 FIDE suffered a big blow with its securities. The value of its UBS investments fell from €623,271 to €152,099 in one year, suggesting that the federation decided to sell securities but did not meet the desired result.

Although the total income of €2,030,703 is higher than the budgeted €1,870,000, some posts have generated less income than expected. For example, entry fees, money that comes in from participants who play tournaments (e.g. the World Juniors), have generated €102,790 less than budgeted.

Furthermore, although budgeted €55,000, no money was generated from the World Rapid & Blitz Championship in Berlin. The regulations stated that Agon, the company that organized the event, should have transferred 20 percent of prize money (U.S. $80,000) to the FIDE bank account.

Overspending

The total expenses for 2015 were €2,985,910, but they were budgeted at €2,260,500. Below are the largest examples of overspending on budgets:

FIDE's legal costs were an astounding €183,883 compared to the budget of €30,000. This was partly related to the CAS case against Silvio Danailov.

The travel costs of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov were €183,284, but they were budgeted at €120,000.

The World Championship and Olympiad Commission (WCOC) spent €63,763 (mostly travel costs) which wasn't budgeted.

Journalists awards went as high as €46,910 and were not budgeted. This involved two prizes given to Russian journalist Sergey Makarychev and Norwegian TV channel NRK.

FIDE covered the unbudgeted travel costs for delegates from South Korea traveling to the 2015 FIDE Congress in Abu Dhabi for €24,871.

Verification Commission

A rule of thumb is that an organization should have about 20 percent of its balance total as assets, which is only just the case for FIDE. The federation needs to stop over-spending or else it will get into serious trouble.

This was also noted by Graham Boxall, the Chairman of FIDE's Verification Committee. In his June 2016 report he writes: "We should also mention here that the majority of the debts to FIDE are those related to commitments due by our President. If the differences between the figures in 2013, 2014 and 2015 were to represent a continuing trend, FIDE's financial position would quickly become very difficult indeed."

Boxall also noted that much of the cash flow problems are caused by organizers of important events who fail to comply with their payment obligations to FIDE. Besides the aforementioned World Rapid & Blitz in Berlin, examples are the Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan World Championship in Ukraine, and the forthcoming Olympiad in Baku. “In both cases FIDE was left without receipt of contractual payments,” writes Boxall.

Even when organizations do comply, sometimes it is with big delays. "Tournaments can pay three to four months late, sometimes even more," said Siegel, "and that can lead to cash flow problems." Siegel suggested penalties should be enforced, but said that the Presidential Board members didn't want this, fearing that no organizer would be interested anymore. Siegel: "I am afraid that this is true. But at the same time, it's not how it works in the real world."

The whole article is well worth reading.

**Nigel Hanrahan** · Tuesday, 15th May, 2018, 09:44 PM

the nefarious actions of the US Treasury Department

Some background information which I already provided on another thread seems very pertinent here. In particular, the history of the US Treasury Department since 9-11, the possible interference in the global SWIFT banking system, and so on, all of which is relevant to the US persecution/prosecution of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

The Economist has a piece from May 5 behind their paywall but a relevant quote is here.

1. "Everything changed after September 11th 2001. American officials realised they could use data and financial flows as a weapon, according to Juan Zarate, a former official, in his memoir “Treasury’s War”. The Patriot Act in 2001 allowed the Treasury to label foreign banks as threats to financial integrity and to ban them from the system for clearing dollar payments."

9-11 has allowed the US regime to weaponize data and financial flows. Kirsan is only one of many victims here.

2. "In 2001-03 America won the right to peer into SWIFT, a formerly confidential global bank messaging system. Suddenly America could track its enemies. And it could make them radioactive to most counterparties, because any bank that touched them, even indirectly and with multiple degrees of separation, could be banned from clearing in dollars—which, if you run a cross-border bank, is fatal.

Between 2002 and 2008 the Treasury experimented with small fry. It brought to heel Victor Bout, an arms dealer; BDA, a bank in Macau that traded with North Korea; and Nauru, a Pacific island with a sideline in exotic finance. Since 2008 Western banks have been fined for breaking rules in the past, but not banned from dollar clearing. More recently Iran and Syria have faced new sanctions but they have few links with the global economy.

Last month, the stakes were raised. At the end of 2017 Rusal was one of the world’s largest aluminium producers, with an enterprise value of $18bn, controlled by Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin. Kapow! In April it was sanctioned as part of a package of measures against Russia. Rusal’s links to America are slight. It makes 14% of its sales there, does not typically use American banks and is listed in Hong Kong and Moscow (a related company, EN+, is listed in London).

The consequences have still been devastating."

It could well be argued that these are simply acts of war by the US government.

3. The Economist waters it down, but suggests, in a wimpy way, that such weapons "could be used" for political ends. lol. Of course, they already have.

4. This is critical and is along the lines of what I've argued [elsewhere].

Originally posted by The Economist

The third conclusion is that other countries will develop ways to escape America’s reach. ZTE and Rusal offer a step-by-step guide to what you need to survive without American permission: semiconductors, a global currency and clearing system, credit-ratings agencies, commodity exchanges, a pool of domestic investors and shipping firms. These are all things that China is working on. America’s use of its new weapons simultaneously demonstrates its power and will hasten its relative decline.

(all quotes above from The Economist behind their paywall over here.]

...............................................

I mentioned as well that the Chinese government has started selling futures in crude oil. This relates to how fast the US decline will be and not its general and inexorable direction.

For the time being, then, the US regime seems to be able to get away with what can be called a kind of international brigandage. The Treasury Department mandate flows from anti-terrorism laws - laws which have to do with vaguely defined "National Security" fictions - which lifts the covers just enough to expose the fairy tale around one Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

FIDE Finances

FIDE Finances

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