---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <[email protected]> Date: Tue, Jan 19, 2016 at 10:05 AM Subject: "Financial Engineering" : 1995-96 Russian "Grabification" and "Loans for Shares" scheme To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, " [email protected]" <[email protected]>, " [email protected]" <[email protected]> Or How Financial Engineering is used, again and again, to enable a coup and transfer property to a small elite ... Below, the post sovietic Russian case , or "loans for shares" scheme of 1995-6 : http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-a-russian-oligarch-2013-3?IR=T *" The oligarchs are the product of the privatization of state companies after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Russian economy was in disarray and the government wanted to redistribute badly managed state-owned companies in just about every industry you can imagine in an effort to move towards capitalism.In 1994, executives at Russia's only Swiss Central Bank accredited bank, Oneksim Bank came up with a plan to help then-President Boris Yeltsin and his administration raise some cash while distributing the companies.The plan was called "loans for shares." Russian banks lent the government money in exchange for temporary stakes in state-owned companies. If the government defaulted on its loan, the banks got to keep their stakes.Of course, the government did default, and those with the capital to take advantage of this fire sale, like Oneksim Bank's then-president and Russia's 4th richest man Vladimir Potanin, became wealthy beyond belief. "///* Also see : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privatization_in_Russia *" Voucher privatization took place between 1992-1994 and roughly 98 percent of the population participated. The vouchers, each corresponding to a share in the national wealth, were distributed equally among the population, including minors. They could be exchanged for shares in the enterprises to be privatized. Because most people were not well-informed about the nature of the program or were very poor, they were quick to sell their vouchers for money, unprepared or unwilling to invest.[citation needed] Most vouchers—and, hence, most shares—wound up being acquired by the management of the enterprises. Although Russia's initial privatization legislation attracted widespread popular support given its promise to distribute the national wealth among the general public and ordinary employees of the privatized enterprises, eventually the public felt deceived. "* -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/