It seems that a consistent practice of "outrageous claim" sites is to repeat the same misinformation without research, then cross-link as though this is proof.

Let's look at an example where several sites have revealed the long-held secret owners of the Federal Reserve. Only a little research into the list would uncover the flaws.

The Alleged owners

Rothschild Bank of London

No such bank exists today.

The Rothschild name is used a lot in international banking conspiracy theories. And there was a time when the Rothschold family did have signficiant power in world banking.

But times change. Once considered one of the great fortunes of the world, the Rothschild empire is but a shadaw of it's former self. "Rothschild bankers of today being only a minor player in the global economy." - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_banking_family_of_England])

Warburg Bank of Hamburg

Currently doing business as "M.M. Warburg and Company" ([http://www.mmwarburg.de/en/bankhaus/adressen/] ) The Bank has not been owned or controlled by the Warburgs since the 1930s driven out by anti-semite practices in Nazi Germany.

"Reichsbank president Hjalmar Schacht told Max M. Warburg during a meeting in Berlin in September 1937 that he could no longer keep the bank…(it) was confiscated when the war broke out." ([http://www.mmwarburg.de/en/bankhaus/historie/1938_1945.html])

"… Virtually all members of the Warburg family had fled to the United States or Great Britain by 1938." ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warburg_family])

Rothschild Bank of Berlin

There is no such bank. Rothschilds does not even have an office in Berlin ([http://www.rothschild.com/groupprivatebanking/?id=globallocations/Germany])

Lehman Brothers of New York

Exists but not quite the power house it is protrayed. It is currently listed as 46th largest bank. The last Lehman to lead it died in 1969. Today it is a publicly held firm so it's major assets can be viewed in the annual report. And, no, ownership of a central bank is not listed as an asset.

Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in September 2008.

Lazard Brothers of Paris

No such firm exists. Lazard Ltd is a publicly traded firm with a market value of $2B which is rather small compared to other major banks. It's major assets can be viewed in the annual report. http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=LAZ

Kuhn Loeb Bank of New York

Has not exist since 1977 when it merged with Lehman. ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuhn,_Loeb_&_Co.]).

Israel Moses Seif Banks of Italy

A search for the existance of this bank did not turn up a single reliable source.

Goldman, Sachs of New York

Currently called Goldman, Sachs Group Inc, this is a real bank and a big one at that with $78B in market value. The annual report shows about $1B in assets but no Federal Reserve ownership. ([http://www2.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/investors/financials/current/annual-reports/2007-annual-report.html])

Warburg Bank of Amsterdam

No such bank could be found

Chase Manhattan Bank of New York

Merged and renamed to JP Morgan Chase

This one does exist and is pretty darn big. Since it is publicly traded, you can view the top shareholders and assets online.

So who does own the Federal Reserve?

The FRS is headed by the Board of Governor a Federal Agency with no mechanism of any sort for anything resembling private ownership.

The concept of ownership comes at the branch level which are organized similar to corporations. Member banks are compelled to subscribe to shares in their local Fed branch. These shares are very limited in their power. (For more detail, see [http://webskeptic.wikidot.com/federal-reserve-system])

Regardless of who the share owners are, the law is fairly clear about ownership of shares in a Fed branch:

Only member banks can own shares
All member banks must be domestic (i.e. a majority of the shares in a member bank must be owned by Americans)
Regardless of the number of shares a bank owns it has only one vote.
Regardless of the number of branches a bank has, it can only own shares and have it's vote in a single branch.

So involvement and influence in Fed branches is spread over thousands of banks.

And, of course, no bank has any vote within the Board of Governors which oversees the entire system.

Bottom line: The above list of secret owners has been parrot for decades by gullible conspiracy theorists who accept it without question.

Closing

Note to any conspiracy theorists reading this and getting outraged:

Suppress your normal reaction to attack the author and the source.

Instead, invest your energy in doing some original research and make your information iron-clad.

Yes, there are evil people out there wanting to do bad things. Stop diverting attention with this out-of-date nonsense and document something current and accurate.

External Links:

page revision: 8, last edited: 27 Sep 2008 14:15

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