ClearStream

WikiPedia Entry Summary:

"Clearstream Banking S.A. (CB) is the custody and settlement division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg.

It was created in January 2000 through the merger of Cedel International and Deutsche Börse Clearing, part of the Deutsche Börse Group, which owns the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Cedel, established in 1971, specialized in clearance and settlement. In 1996 it obtained a bank license. In July 2002 Deutsche Börse purchased the remaining 50% of Clearstream International for €1.6 billion. Deutsche Börse's strategy is to be a vertical securities silo, providing facilities for the front and back ends of securities trading. In 2008 Clearstream contributed €489 million to Deutsche Börse's total Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) of €1,5 billion. It handled 114 million transactions, and was custodian of securities worth €10,6 trillion (Deutsche Boerse Annual Report, 2008).

In Révélation$ (2001), by investigative reporter Denis Robert and ex-Clearstream banker Ernest Backes, Clearstream was accused of being an international platform for money laundering and tax evasion via an illegal system of secret accounts (the "Clearstream Affair"). M Robert was sued and sentenced eight times by the French courts for defamation (Paris court of appeal, October 16, 2008)

In Spring 2004, a "Second Clearstream Affair" began, which attracted more attention in 2006. Peripheral to the primary Clearstream Affair, it accused several French political figures, industrial leaders, and members of the secret services of maintaining secret accounts at Clearstream, which allegedly were used to transfer kickbacks in a France–Taiwan frigates scandal. In this affair M Robert together with M de Villepin, Gergorin, lahoud and Bourges will face trial in September 2009"

BBC Article : France-Taiwan Arms-Deal Scandal

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In 1983, Clearstream director Gérard Soisson was found dead in Corsica, just prior to the publicization of the fact that Clearstream had been moving money for Vatican/Italian mob/US proxy/Masonic bank Banco Ambrosiano, itself at the centre of scandal as a result of high-profile murders and financial losses.