You are here
Reuters publicizes GATA/Howe lawsuit against BIS
GATA'S REG HOWE SUES BIS, FED,
TREASURY, AND 5 INVESTMENT HOUSES
TO STOP GOLD PRICE SUPPRESSION
For Release at 8 a.m. EDT Monday, December 11, 2000
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston with
the support of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee
accuses five investment houses, the Bank for
International Settlements, and top officials of the
U.S. Treasury Department and U.S. Federal Reserve Board
of conspiring to suppress the price of gold.
The lawsuit, Docket No. 00-CV-12485-RCL, charges the
defendants with price fixing, securities fraud, and
breach of fiduciary duty. The U.S. government officials
are also accused of exceeding their constitutional
authority.
The lawsuit's plaintiff is Reginald H. Howe, a lawyer,
gold market analyst, consultant to GATA, proprietor of
an Internet site devoted to gold market commentary
(www.GoldenSextant.com), and a shareholder of the Bank
for International Settlements. The BIS's plan to cancel
those of its shares in private hands so that the bank
might become owned entirely by member central banks is
at the center of the lawsuit.
The suit alleges that the BIS proposes to pay its
private shareholders substantially less than fair value
for their shares. The suit also claims that the BIS,
owner of a substantial amount of gold, has been at the
center of a scheme with central banks and the
investment house defendants to coordinate the sale and
leasing of gold and the sale of gold derivatives to
keep the price of gold low and thereby disguise
inflation and weakness in the U.S. dollar, as well as
to prevent losses on gold short positions held by
certain banks.
Officials of the Federal Reserve Board have no
authority to hold directorships of the BIS, the lawsuit
alleges.
The suit seeks injunctions to stop the Treasury
Department and the Fed from intervening in the gold
market and to stop the investment houses from
manipulating the price of gold; an order to the BIS to
compensate its private shareholders fully; and damages
against all the defendants for fixing the price of
gold.
Besides the BIS, the defendants include: Alan
Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board;
William J. McDonough, president of the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York; Lawrence H. Summers, secretary of the
Treasury Department; and J.P. Morgan amp; Co. Inc.,
Chase Manhattan Corp., Citigroup Inc.,
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Deutsche Bank AG.
The text of the lawsuit is posted on the Internet at:
www.goldensextant.com/Complaint.html#anchor3130
and
quot;With this lawsuit, we hope to mobilize the gold mining
industry and gold shareholders around the world to help
us restore a free market,quot; GATA Chairman Bill Murphy
said. quot;Mining companies, their employees and
shareholders, and developing countries have been ruined
by the manipulation of the gold market, and it has
prompted ordinary investors around the world to put
their savings at greater risk than they would have done
otherwise. Meanwhile certain Wall Street interests have
made billions from this manipulation. GATA was founded
to fight this, and fighting it we are.
quot;But sustaining this lawsuit against defendants that
control most of the world's money will cost money
itself, and we continue to appeal to gold's friends for
financial contributions to support our work.quot;
GATA is a educational and charitable organization
incorporated in Delaware. Contributions are federally
tax-exempt in the United States and may be sent to GATA
in care of Chris Powell, secretary/treasurer, 7 Villa
Louisa Road, Manchester, Conn. 06043-7541 USA. (Email:
GATAComm@aol.com.)
Murphy may be reached by telephone in Dallas, Texas, at
214-522-3411, and by electronic mail at
LePatron@LeMetropoleCafe.com.
