Slowly the derivative fraud/disaster is coming to broad daylight.....
But with the financial crisis still raging and banks, hedge funds and governments alike faced with unforeseen levels of debt, regulators are now forcing this shadowy, $600-trillion industry into the light.
The question being asked by industry insiders is whether the clearing houses, also known as central counterparties (CCPs), are any more secure.
"What happens if they go bust? I can tell you the simple answer: mayhem. As bad as, conceivably worse than, the failure of large and complex banks," Paul Tucker, deputy governor of the Bank of England, said in October.
Von Greyerz speculates: Central bankers don’t even understand gold. Most of them don’t even understand why they have it. If you listen to (Fed Chairman) Bernanke, he doesn’t have a clue as to why the US has it. As a matter of fact, as you know, he probably doesn’t have it anyway. The US simply doesn’t have the 8,100 tons of gold they say they possess....