Misty

Best guess: the pimping wasn't about money, it was about information. Pimping provided the kompromat that was Epstein protection against his real racket. He was friends with and following in the footsteps of Robert Maxwell. He got up to the same activities that Maxwell got up to, and that's where the big money came in. Pimping just gave him dirt on important people, in case he needed protection.

And if he believes that, then I have a social media company to sell him. Oh, wait......

Yes, an obvious corruption story too.

Then there's peachy story, let's see, the Saudis give Jared Kushner, an actual member of the Trump administration and senior advisor to the former president, $2bn for his "investment" fund - why, because Kushner is such a talented investor? Yeah, right. "Kushner created his investment firm the day after Trump left the White House in January 2021 and the Saudi government gave it the $2 billion six months later." https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/03/house-oversight-investigating-2b-saudi-investment-in-jared-kushners-firm.html

Sadly the Elite Visa is not an option for me, because it's meant to be a form of a tourist visa and working on an Elite visa is illegal. Since I own and run a Thai company, the LTR visa/ work permit combination is a better deal.

Always wondered what happened regarding this story, but perhaps it's just the tip of the ice berg Air Force says it sent crews to Trump’s Scottish resort up to 40 times https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/12/air-force-trump-scottish-resort-1493624

Much of this unrealized loss seems to be simply longer dated US treasuries that have fallen in price in the open market due to rises in interest rates. Whether or not the bank can afford hold the treasuries until maturity (or interest rates falling) is really the issue. So if this is really a problem for any individual bank depends on the size of the unrealized treasury loss versus the rest of the bank's balance sheet. It would be good if financial analysts (and journalists) could look at balance sheets from that perspective. 1997 Thailand was actually a very different issue. In 1997 the BoT actually had net negative foreign currency reserves. The BoT had been reporting positive foreign reserves to the market. However to support the Thai baht, it had purchased futures agreements that weren't being reported publicly. That is until 2 July 1997 a day I won't forget and when the Thai baht floated and defacto devalued. Many Thai financial institutions and corporates had USD liabilities, but little to no USD income or assets. The Thai financial system was bankrupt - something like 58 financial companies disappeared, Thai banks ended up with large Non Performing Loans (NPLs) and their ownership changed dramatically as they were forced to recapitalize. I'd stress that holding US treasuries with unrealized losses is a very different thing. To quote the CNN article: "Most large US banks are in good financial condition and won’t find themselves in a situation where they’re forced to realize bond losses, said Gruenberg." I think this is true.

The LTR visa does seem to be targeted at a relatively smaller group of people than a tourist visa, or the NonO retirement visa. A better comparison might be Permanent Residency. I've applied for both PR and LTR. While PR should have been a good program, I think LTR is definitely better. With the LTR visa there's far less hoop jumping than PR, no "VIP service fees," no year long wait times or other nonsense. Plus you can easily get a 5 year digital work permit with it (renewable for 5 years) - this is a huge benefit for people who work. There's no 90 day reporting, and if you get stuck out of the country for more than a year you don't lose the LTR visa (as some lost PR status during COVID). It's early days for the LTR visa program. I think the BoI was heavily taxed in the initial roll out. But now that the program is in place, I hope things will be smoother and that it can be expanded to include more people. Last week's Cabinet meeting supporting expanding the categories of industries that qualify under "Highly Skilled Professionals" is a good sign. In any event, it's still a great option for people who qualify.

So true. A US broker must mark-to-market its investment portfolio on a daily basis, and report the loss in its financial statements (monthly, quarterly, yearly). But a bank can carry underwater bonds at cost, if it plans or claims it will hold those bonds to maturity. It's yet another difference between the financial reporting of different types of US institutions, and one that was previously probably not widely understood.

This could be a long shot, but I wonder if there's a possibility that you could qualify in the future under the LTR category "Highly Skilled Professional" instead. The targeted industries for this category are apparently being expanded to include "financial and market consulting services." An announcement came out last week was circulated by one of the foreign chambers of commerce: Cabinet Revises LTR Visa’ Targeted Industries The Cabinet supported revision to the qualifications, criteria, and benefits for Long-Term Resident Visas’, as proposed by Board of Investment (BOI), with the aim of attracting Highly Skilled Professionals, by revising the criteria of targeted industries. As a result: The following industries are newly added: Transport and Logistics, and Petrochemical and Chemical Industry. The following industries have been revised: Automotive Industry, Electronics Industry, Agricultural, Food, and Biotechnology Industry, Aviation, Airport, and Space Industry, International Business Center (IBC), among other revisions. Notably, the BOI will now consider other industries that are served by highly skilled professionals, using one of the following specialized skillsets: Research and development in targeted industries or targeted technology industries such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and advanced materials technology. Human resource development in sciences and technology, at vocational or higher education levels. The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, and/or using automated robotics system in businesses. The planning and development of digital system to elevate the products and services offered by businesses. Providing financial and market consulting services. The management of environment and energy. Managing or providing consultation on incubator and acceleration projects, and providing support to the innovation and ecosystems of startup businesses. Alternative dispute resolution services. Providing support and sponsoring the development of business economics, trade and investments, by foreign chambers of commerce and international trade organizations. Source: March 7 Cabinet Resolutions, Agenda Item no. 24

It's true that the LTR visa isn't for everyone. For one, tourists are definitely not the target market. But for those who qualify and wish to work, the LTR and its digital work permit is a very favorable alternative to the NonB visa/work permit combination or the Elite card which doesn't even allow work. And as a true Long Term Residency visa, on many measures it also compares favorably to the old Permanent Residency program and is more "popular." To say it's the program is a failure because "millions" haven't been granted is pretty much missing the point. BoI has said no one ever expected millions, the targets were exaggerated to get the program approved and in place. I'm thankful it is in place, it is such an improvement over the alternatives.

Thanks, Pib, having owned and run a US Thai Amity Treaty company for nearly 20 year, your post above is in line with my understanding as well. Strictly based on the Thai Amity treaty, 4 Thai employees are needed per foreign employee. There may be exceptions to the employee rule, such as NonO supporting Thai dependent or LTR visa, but these have nothing to do with the Amity Treaty itself. However as @BritTim notes above, the employee rules may be different in the case of Thai Amity Treaty sole proprietorship. This may indeed be true, I have no experience with a sole proprietorship and so can't comment.

He once was highly ambitious and focused. He's never been that smart. And now he's a nut case.

Agreed on hypocrisy of libertarians, and that the parties (paid by lobbyists) who slashed regulations are real culprits. Also, bank management is directly responsible. Besides losing their jobs, let's see if management has their bonuses, paid on 10 March, clawed back.

Great idea, as long as she doesn't plan to work.

Ummm, I think something got lost in translation. Are you saying I should not want to be 'hired' by my Thai Amity Treaty company, but should instead do freelance work for it?

Yes, we will all pay but much less than if this had snowballed into a contagion situation. Most of us remember 2008 and Lehman. And I'll never forget 1997 Thailand.

Definitely understand the outrage. But I'm not sure I'd call this a bailout of rich, connected people. Make no mistake: contagion would have been really ugly for everyone. And it's not really a bailout: taxpayer money isn't used to make depositors whole: the banking sector will bear that cost through higher cost of FDIC insurance. First to lose everything in a bankruptcy is shareholders (already done), then bondholders (my guess is also done). Depositors would be last on that list to bear the costs. If not enough left for depositors, FDIC insurance kicks in. If not enough FDIC insurance, then a benefit-cost determination is made. In this case the cost of freezing deposits until assets could be sold was determined to be too great. It was better for everyone to make the cash readily available to depositors and avoid systemic contagion.

Interesting Guardian story: Silicon Valley Bank chief pressed Congress to weaken risk regulations CEO Greg Becker personally led the bank’s half-million-dollar push to reduce scrutiny of his institution – and lawmakers obliged https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/11/silicon-valley-bank-weaken-risk-regulations-svb

It sounds like SVB deposit holders were pretty much going to get their money back anyway, and the "systemic risk exemption" being applied in this case is really to calm things down and prevent the situation from snowballing. The only advantage to deposit holders is they will get their money back sooner rather than later. I have no doubt some of the deposit holders could be people such as you mention, but some are also companies with employees whose paycheck money would have been caught up in the mess, as well as SVB branches in other countries. SVB reportedly pretty much had enough assets to cover its liabilities. Its problem was a duration mismatch due to poor bank management decisions, followed by a very rapid run on deposits. In taking over the bank on Friday, the feds have wiped out shareholders and made an orderly work out possible. Deposit holders would have gotten their money back anyways (as there's apparently pretty much enough to cover them) so quelling the markets and preventing a systemic contagion situation is worth it. In the aftermath of this fiasco, hopefully bank stress tests will be expanded to include the likes of banks the size of SVB. Also, hopefully the bank management will pay a real price for the mess that was created.

Rare though LTR visas may be, even in the program's initial stages last year, many more Americans received LTR visas than received Permanent Residency (PR) for the entire year. PR should, in theory, be a good program. However, having prepared applications for both PR and LTR (and now having an LTR visa and work permit), I think the LTR is a much better program than PR. Not to mention that having the BoI oversee it removes a lot of the games that go on at Immigration with PR.

Many thanks, that could be the case for a sole proprietorship. My direct experience is with a Thai Amity treaty company only - so not a sole proprietorship. I don't think Thai Amity treaty companies can hire foreigners with NonB or NonO visas and work permits and not employ Thais.

Definitely agree that this type of service might not be worth it for someone with a relatively uncomplicated situation or who already lives in Thailand. But I'm guessing that the intermediary would do all the chasing up with the BoI, as well as handle other details such as helping get a bank account, helping invest in a Thai gov't bond, etc. Might be worth it for someone overseas, relatively unfamiliar with Thailand, and maybe can't easily do these things themselves.

Can you post more information about American Treaty of Amity companies not requiring Thai employees for foreigners with work permits? I'm not saying this isn't true, but I've owned and run such a company for many years. The Thai employee requirement has always been necessary. We've had solid legal advice. I've never heard of these "complicated rules" and so am a bit skeptical if the complicated rules from a Thai lawyer don't just involve some kind of "VIP service fee."

Didn't Stormy say "like a toadstool." Could put some off.