To: scott.o.schneider@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Enjoy! Response to your "Re: Response to your request"
Date: Mar 4, 2008 9:53 AM
Scott,
What do you not understand of the phrase "conditional resignation".
Though I've never met you, due to your response I'm assuming there
must
be an issue of mental capacity on your part.
Lets take this in steps.
First what does conditional mean?.
"conditional" (k=C9=99n-d=C4=ADsh'=C9=99-n=C9=99l)
Adj. 1. qualified by reservations
qualified - limited or restricted; not absolute; "gave only qualified
approval"
2. conditional - imposing or depending on or containing a condition;
"conditional
acceptance of the terms"; "lent conditional sup****t"; "the conditional
sale will not be complete until the full purchase price is paid"
qualified - limited or restricted; not absolute; "gave only qualified
approval"
unconditional, unconditioned - not conditional; "unconditional
surrender"
Finally lets take on "resignation" (r=C4=95z'=C4=ADg-n=C4=81'sh=C9=99n)
noun 1. A giving up of a possession, claim, or right: abandonment,
abdication,
demission, quitclaim, relinquishment, renunciation, surrender, waiver.
See keep/release.
2. The capacity of enduring hard****p or inconvenience without
complaint: forbearance,
long-suffering, patience, tolerance. See accept/reject.
For "conditional" I'll take #2 and for "resignation" lets
take #2. Now Scott that you have the definitions lets combine them
alright.
As of 03/03/2008 I again submit my conditional resignation and I do
not accept your
"termination"
because you have no legal right to terminate me in this manner either
within your
company procedures nor by Federal law, therefore you cannot.
Again Scott here are the reasons for my decision:
Letter to Heidi Sturdevant dated 2/4/08
Heidi,
How are you? Let me begin this letter to you as the new DSM of the
North District
(Baytown, Texas 831705 Branch) by stating that it was a pleasure to
meet you a little
over a week ago and I look forward to progress under your leader****p.
As you may
recall from our previous conversations in late January, I've been
feeling ill
for some time. I've attached both scripts to better inform you of my
condition.
Several of our clients have come in with a little of this or that, and
Mr. Coleman
was ill for some time as well. At first I felt it may be just a common
cold and
then my sickness continued through early January. I felt better
shortly after taking
some decongestant and a restful weekend. The conditions returned in
mid January
and have continued through this present time.
I'm aware that your office has received my faxes with doctors' notices
and
detailed information on my condition. Let me get more to the point
Heidi. In addition
to my influenza there have been signs of severe stress. In my thirty
years on this
earth neither I nor my family recall my ever being seen for heart
palpitations.
Due to the inherant liability of influenza to staff and clientele at
our branch
I chose to take TOP and a floating holiday upon diagnoses (As you made
me aware
in previous conversation I had a right to under HNAH HR policy).
In regards to my illness, not only had I made Antonio aware that I was
sick, I made
my co-workers aware that I was under the impression I had not been
given time to
see a doctor as my TOP time accrues monthly. In addition my TOP time
calculations
included parent-teacher conferences, my son's preparation and eventual
first
communion, vacation and half days for his school schedule. (I am a
single parent
like many in our district with full custody of a minor.) In so doing I
had about
one and a half days to take in January-February. In addition, I was
made aware that
branch productivity had fallen and employees who missed work would be
frowned upon.
This prompted my call to you in late January. Understand I respect
Antonio's
position, but I will not stand idely by as a manager continues to
berate employees
and erode morale. What, you may ask, qualifies me to give such an
*****sment? I've
been in leader****p roles both business, private and public throughout
my life and
I have a broad perspective as I'm sure you do.
Please be patient as I would like you to follow my decision to ask for
a transfer
logically. "Qui Bono?" in my leaving? Who benefits Heidi and who
loses?
I of course see this course as best for my family, my office and
myself. If, however,
I can intrude on your conversation with Antonio this past Friday, may
I ask what
did you discuss and why haven't I been contacted directly by Antonio
as to his
direction on the matter? It is true, when Antonio asked me in a rather
hostile tone,
"Do you want me to call Heidi?". I encouraged him to do so believing
you
to be an equitable and fair minded person. When you ask me "How's it
going?"
while I sit in front of Antonio how do you think I should respond?
Well I'll
tell you. I think to myself "Qui Bono?" and I say "I'm doing
great," because what good would it do for me to be forthright at that
time.
That is what this letter involves. Letting you know the state of one
of your loan
officers and a difference of opinion which has driven me to request a
transfer.
So what do I want? Heidi, I'm asking you to do your best by whatever
belief
system you have to solve this professionally.
02/22/2008
I, Michael Fitzpatrick, hereby offer my re****t to HSBC North American
holdings,
their board of directors, and cor****ate governance officers of all
levels both in
United States, Uk and worldwide. Though unsolicited, I believe that my
re****t is
in the best interests of the shareholders and employees.
For the past 6 and half months, I've worked for HSBC's Beneficial
branch
#831705 in Baytown, Texas. Several incidents have occurred, during
the past few
months, which have compromised my personal health and my regard for
HSBC as an employer.
When it comes to cronyism, nepotism and racism; well, I've never seen
such a
mess and I know that the inattention given to this situation
compromises the brand
at the highest levels. I'm a proud member of HSBC and though I've only
been
an employee for 6 months, I got here as fast as I could.
The first time I ever experienced discrimination was in November, when
I inadvertently
answered a client's question in Spanish. Upon my hiring, I had
disclosed to
Mr. Antonio Garcia, my immediate supervisor and manager, that I spoke
Spanish semi-fluently,
I have family members from Nicaragua and that I wished to be Spanish
certified.
I was verbally assaulted by Mr. Garcia in response to my interaction
with that Spanish-speaking
client. A similar incident occurred in December during solicit time;
a Spanish-speaking
client called and I announced to the office "Spanish speaker on line
one, somebody
please answer." After they had been on hold for five minutes, I
repeated my
announcement, with no response. In effort to retain the customer, I
told the customer,
in Spanish, to wait a moment please. I was then again verbally
assaulted by Mr.
Garcia.
The week of January 28th, another incident occurred during a morning
meeting, when
Mr. Garcia questioned my loan file practices. I had announced the
previous day to
Mr. Garcia and Shannon of the HSBC home office that I was taking flu
medication
and that was not feeling very well. I made an effort to continue to
work. Mr. Garcia
verbally assaulted me regarding the status of my files and, though I
was heavily
medicated, I did my best to answer his questions truthfully. The
conversation escalated
and communication broke down; I attempted to assert my concerns, but
was again verbally
assaulted. I had made it known that I was having difficulty due to
the medication
I was taking. Mr. Garcia then demanded that I accompany him to a
closed office
away from the other employees. The conversation escalated further,
and Mr. Garcia
indicated he would immediately call Ms. Sturdevant, his direct
supervisor. I encouraged
him to make the call, but she was unavailable to take the call. Prior
to this incident,
a fellow employee Anthony Coleman was also verbally assaulted and
threatened with
termination.
On February 18th, 2008, I was alerted that I was to re****t to the
office in Copperfield,
branch #831734, by 10:30 a.m. on February 19th. This information was
relayed to
me by Ms. Stella Chu, who was substituting for my manager and
supervisor Mr. Garcia
while he met with his direct supervisor, Ms. Heidi Sturdevant. I was
not told the
nature of the visit; however, after receiving a favorable rating
during my yearly
review, I believed I was to be transferred to another branch as I had
made a transfer
request on February 4th, 2008. The location was about 2 hours from my
branch with
traffic, I left at 8:15 a.m., and arrived at 10:30 a.m. I was
escorted to a sealed
off room with one computer terminal. It was made known that I would be
waiting for
a while. I walked two lease spaces down, purchased two coffees,
returned to the
Copperfield office, and offered beverages to both the Sales Assistant
and to Dennis,
an Account Executive. I returned to the room, and then was able to
access the computer
in the room and log on. I then continued my normal morning routine by
calling prospective
clients. After approximately an hour, I called my father at his
office for his
advice on the situation. I indicated to him that I had not been
informed the purpose
of the meeting. As I was talking to him, the network connection was
disconnected,
and I was no longer able to work on my files. My father suggested that
a reasonable
course of action would be to ask the assistant to reschedule the
meeting. I then
asked the Sales Assistant if the meeting needed to be rescheduled and
was told to
return to the room and wait. After about 45 minutes, Ms. Sturdevant
came in to
the office and transferred a conference call from her desk to the
office I was in.
At this time, it was made known that Mr. Garcia and Mr. Anthony Gooden
would be
joining the conversation. Ms. Sturdevant introduced the conversation
by asking a
series of questions to which I replied that I had driven two hours to
the meeting
and had waited two hours, and expressed my desire that she get
straight to the point
and purpose of the meeting. It was made known that I was to be placed
on corrective
action for the following reasons: 1) arriving late to work 2)
insubordination.
I made it known that I believed this action to be retaliation for my
calls to Human
Resources in regards to Mr. Garcia's disregard for his employee's
health
and well-being, and violations of company ethics standards. I was
told that the
meeting was about me, and not about any other employees. It was made
known by Ms.
Sturdevant that the company was well within its rights to write me
up. I replied
that this was a double-standard, to which I expected all employees to
be held accountable
across the board as they were holding me accountable. I was told that
the corrective
action would be placed in my file immediately and was asked if I had
any additional
comments; the meeting ended approximately 30 minutes after it had
began. I responded
verbally indicating that I had observed gross negligence pertaining to
production,
employee health, and a general violation of company ethics by Mr.
Garcia. I then
made it known that unless changes were made, that the Baytown branch
would continue
to experience high turnover, low production, and damage to the HSBC
brand. Mr.
Gooden interrupted me several times, pointing out the discussion was
about me and
no one else. I understood this meeting to be retaliation for previous
calls to
company managers, and a measure to prevent me from transferring to
another part
of the company. On Febraury 18th, I had worked over my 9 hour
allotment and "comped"
time that I had missed the previous week, the tardiness that I had
been reprimanded
for. It had been made known to me by Mr. Garcia that, if anyone was
running late,
as long as he was notified and that the time was "comped," there would
be no problems. Apparently, when Ms. Sturdevant assumed her position
a few weeks
ago, a change of policy on tardiness occurred, which I did notice was
not being
enforced at my branch.
On February 20th, I arrived at work after turning in paperwork to
ensure my son's
registration at his school in Clear Lake for the upcoming school
year. As previously
requested by Mr. Garcia, I texted him in advance letting him know I
was going to
be a few minutes late and that I was on my way. Immediately upon
arriving to the
office, I filled out my "one on one" sheet requested by Ms. Sturdevant
and Mr. Garica. I then began contacting customers. We had a morning
meeting and
at approximately 11:50 a.m. Mr. Garcia requested that I join him for
our "one
on one" meeting. On my "one on one" sheet, I had expressed concerns
about the status of my files, inquiring as to why they were not
moving, and I had
specific examples that I wished to express to Mr. Garcia
One mentioned status of the Thames refinance. Underwriting had
requested divorce
do***ents which were discovered to be accessible through imaging. The
previous week
I had made a request to the Sales Assistant, Laura Bucio, to locate
the original
do***entation for Ms. Thames. Ms. Bucio stated she was unable to pull
up the divorce
decree, to which I requested that she print up any do***ents
pertaining to the Bank
of America charge off and divorce decree. Ms. Bucio replied she would
have it to
me the following morning.
Mr. Garcia verbally assaulted me regarding my handling of these files
using circular
logic, and appeared to be picking a fight for retaliation for the
comments I had
made at the meeting in Copperfield. During this encounter, I felt my
heart start
to race, and Mr. Garcia stated that he would call Ms Sturdevant. At
this point,
I stood up, feeling that my job was being threatened again; I felt my
arms go numb,
my hands were clammy, and I stated that I had to leave. I told Mr.
Garcia what
I thought of him, walked out of the office, let Ms. Bucio know that I
was taking
an hour lunch, and proceeded to a restaurant a few lease spaces down
called Cali.
My heart rate was high and I was experiencing hypertension. I ordered
a jasmine
tea and spring rolls and tried to calm down; I felt relieved to have
avoided further
confrontation. My condition grew worse. Feeling distressed and that my
health was
at risk, I called Blue Cross Blue ****eld, and asked for a local doctor
that I could
see immediately. I was referred to Dr. Shahina Ali at 281-837-0846.
This was a
local about three blocks down the road from the Baytown office. Due
to my health
condition, I did not want to drive any further than absolutely
necessary. Dr. Ali
confirmed that I had high blood pressure and heart palpitations, and
she referred
me to cardiologist Dr. Fayez Hadidi at 281-442-3364, after conducting
tests. Dr.
Hadidi performed his evaluation, conferring with Dr. Ali, that I
should take approximately
2 to 3 days off. I asked that these notes be forwarded to my office;
these were
forwarded immediately. Dr. Hadidi then referred my to Baytown Imaging
Center at
281-425-1490. An appointment was made for February 22nd 2008 at 8:00
a.m. On Friday,
February 22nd, I arrived at 8:30 a.m. at Baytown Imaging. During my
appointment,
while electrodes were placed on my chest, Mr. Gooden called my cell
phone, asking
to speak to me immediately. I politely informed Mr. Gooden that I was
at a cardiologist
appointment, and that I would return his call after the appointment
ended, hopefully
within the hour. The appointment took longer than expected, I was
fitted with a
heart monitor to wear for 24 hours, and I made a followup visit to Dr.
Hadidi's
office. Dr. Hadidi confirmed that I had high blood pressure and this
was a continued
risk to my health. At approximately 2:00 p.m., I returned Mr.
Gooden's call,
and he made known to me that he was to terminate me immediately. I
replied that
it was my intention to resign if the situation could not be remedied.
I was told
to have my resignation in my 3:00 p.m. I then called Mr. Gooden's
office back,
and asked to speak to his supervisor. Mr. Gooden's secretary asked who
I was
and took a message as follows: "Mr.Fitzpatrick has misplaced his
resignation
letter and will have it you as soon as possible."
I am submitting my conditional resignation upon receipt of this letter
and would
like to appeal Mr. Gooden's decision to his supervisor and the
management staff
at headquarters in Prospect Height, Illinois, and headquarters in
London.
I believe this re****t to be in the best interests of HSBC, its
stockholders, and
employees worldwide.
The issues here are about what type of company we (I still consider
myself an employee
of HSBC) want to be.
Attached is my resume which I've submitted to several departments. I
desire
to be trasfered to another department where I may make an impact that
further helps
HSBCs brand image. The following stories are easily accessible to
anyone with a
computer worldwide. I'd hate to see more bad press. I know HSBC has
an interest
in and both respects employee rights, religion, health and family and
thats why
you'll help me.
http://www.hsbcusa.com/hsbc_finance/governance_standards.html
a noteworthy issue with HSBC
http://personal-injury.blogcarnival.com/archives/2005/03/more_hsbc_san_d.htm=
l
-----
September 10, 2007
HSBC's Knight in Rusty Armour
During the weekend, there were lots of re****ts on the attack by Eric
Knight on HSBC's
governance and strategy.
Eric Knight, who is CEO of Knight Vinke Asset Management, is airing
his concerns
in public, he claims, as a result of the FSA=E2=80=99s Market Watch (six
pag=
e
pdf) of May
2007 which focused upon shareholder activism and states:
=E2=80=9CThere is also obvious potential for abuse were a participant
deliberately to set
out to generate a false rumour or expectation of some future cor****ate
action knowing
that it, or others associated with it, may be able to take advantage
of a short
term movement in the price of the target's securities. Generally we
expect market
participants to take reasonable care to ensure that any announcement
or informal
comment does not give rise to false or in the cir***stances deceptive
signals about
their intentions.=E2=80=9D
As a result, Mr. Knight announced on September 6 that:
=E2=80=9CKnight Vinke Asset Management wishes to inform the market that it
intends to engage
in a constructive dialogue with the Board and other institutional
shareholders of
HSBC Holdings plc over the future direction and governance of the
Group. In this
context, Knight Vinke wrote to the Executive Chairman on 25th May, met
with the
Group Finance Director on 12th June in New York, and wrote to the full
Board on
4th September requesting that it undertake a fundamental review of the
Group=E2=80=99s strategy
in consultation with shareholders.=E2=80=9D
What=E2=80=99s Mr. Knight=E2=80=99s problem?
It=E2=80=99s a mixture of both the cor****ate governance and strategy of
the
firm.
On the governance side, the Daily Telegraph gets to the heart of the
debate by stating
that "the slumbering board wasn't guilty of napping but full-blown
narcolepsy".
This article talks about the sense of too many cronies being inside
HSBC's boardroom,
with a third of their non-execs having been there so long that they
can no longer
be viewed as being independent. Another part of the governance issue
is that HSBC
does not have any American directors on the board, although you would
have thought
that the head of US operations would have known something was up
wouldn=E2=80=99t you?
On the strategy side, he seems to think that HSBC should give up on
America, sell
their French operations and focus on Asia. In other words, the
acquisitions of
Household International and CCF were both wrong and should be
dismantled.
Not sure that HSBC's management would agree with that view though,
especially
as Household was an acquisition managed by Stephen Green when he was
Chief Executive.
Nevertheless, Knight Vinke claims may have some substance.
For example, HSBC tend to move CEO's up to Executive Chairman when
they manage
successions and Mr. Knight thinks that is wrong. In the Sunday Times,
for example,
he is quoted as calling for Stephen Green to move to a non-Executive
role and to
elect a new Executive Chairman from outside the Group, something that
would be unprecedented.
Indio of London commented on this article, and amused me by saying:
"Green needs to go ... Perhaps they could use that nice Mr Goodwin
when he
gets fired as a result of buying ABN."
There are also other mud-slingers, such as Threadneedle's retiring
Head of Equities,
Michael Taylor, who was quoted as saying late last year that HSBC
Executive Chairman
Stephen Green is "asleep on the job is how I would describe it. He's
just
not up for it.''
These comments were made last December when HSBC's exposure to the US
mortgage
markets through their acquired subsidiary, Household International,
became clear.
Household International was purchased in 2003 for $15.5 billion -
under the Chair
of Sir John Bond, one should note - and provisions for losses for
subprime exposure
of over $8 billion were made in December 2006, rising to over $10.5
billion by February
2007.
So, in some ways, this makes Green and CEO Michael Geoghegan easy
fodder for critique
=2E.. just as most others have been since the subprime debacle has hit.
And maybe that=E2=80=99s why Knight Vinke has invested =C2=A3200 million
in =
HSBC to
gain a one
percent stake, as this is their normal strategy: gain a small share in
a large company
and then send out long research notes to all of the other activists,
board members
and analysts. And this has worked in some quarters, e.g. they managed
to get Royal
Dutch Shell to restructure three years ago. Interesting that, as on
this occasion,
this was in cahoots with CalPERS, the California activist pension
fund.
These factors, alongside the recent humbling of HSBC by an activist
group of student
customers; the homophobia that is alleged to exist; and the amazing
spin doctors
at Knight Vinke who claim that Stephen Green actually rang Eric Knight
and agreed
with his criticisms, may make you think that Stephen Green is on the
ropes.
But you would be wrong.
First, HSBC is pretty focused on a clear strategy of Asia expansion.
Just last
week, this was evidenced by two announcements. The first was the
announcement that
the bank is focusing heavily on building a strong retail presence in
Japan. The
second that HSBC has taken a 51% controlling stake in Korea Exchange
Bank for $6.3
billion.
Second, HSBC is one of the more innovative banks. This was shown by
two stories
on Finextra, again just in the last week, that HSBC investigates 'out
of band'
authentication for Web users and HSBC cash machines to alert customers
who go into
the red.
That=E2=80=99s why I=E2=80=99ve written about HSBC as being pretty strong
on=
two
previous occasions
(see HSBC=E2=80=99s view from the top and HSBC=E2=80=99s numbers).
That=E2=80=99s why Ken Murray, Chairman of Blue Planet fund managers was
quoted in the Observer
over the weekend as saying =E2=80=9C'HSBC has been fantastically
successful:=
I
could
find 100 banks ahead of it which I could grumble about.' So says Ken
Murray,
chairman of Blue Planet fund managers
And that=E2=80=99s why Stephen Green was quoted in the Financial Times as
saying: =E2=80=9CWe have
a clear strategy. It is focused on investing and developing our
powerful emerging
markets franchises. We will continue to do that. That was part of a
strategy that
had been carefully thought through from the beginning of the
year.=E2=80=9D
Finally, a few folks reckon that Mr. Knight must have been asleep on
the job too,
as the accusations of board cronyism broke in January 2007.
----
Other comments in the news about our company that we could have
prevented.
_____
Update of February 18, 2008: Wheeling and dealing, HSBC Holdings PLC
will begin
raising $4.2 billion to fund Borse Dubai's acquisition of Scandinavian
stock
exchange OMX AB, according to Mukhtar Hussain, global investments head
at HSBC....
Update of February 11, 2008: HSBC is re****tedly looking to sell the UK
network it
bought along with Household, HFC, only waiting for a Financial
Services Authority
investigation into the way it was selling payment-protection
insurance. The investigation
concluded last month with small-in-context fine. That does not mean
that HSBC does
not continue expanding elsewhere its predatory lending and, as noted,
predatory
credit insurance...
Update of February 4, 2008: A South Korean court Friday found Lone
Star Funds guilty
of stock manipulation, levied a fine on the company and sentenced the
head of its
local unit to jail. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Paul
Yoo, the head
of Lone Star's South Korean unit, to five years in jail for
manipulating the
stock price of the credit-card unit of Korea Exchange Bank, in which
Lone Star owns
a controlling stake. The court fined Lone Star and KEB each $263.6
million. South
Korea's Financial Supervisory Commission after the ruling said it will
wait
for the outcome of other legal cases related to Lone Star's
acquisition of KEB
in 2003, although those cases aren't directly related to the Dallas-
based fund.
So Friday's verdict is likely to further delay the sale of Lone Star's
controlling
stake in KEB to HSBC Holdings.
Which is probably a blessing for Korean consumers, given HSBC's
predatory
lending...
Update of January 21, 2008: HSBC's bottom-feeding has run into
delays, now
in South Korea. There, HSBC last year announced plans to acquire Lone
Star's
stake in Korea Exchange Bank. But Lone Star's salesman, Paul Yoo, now
faces
a ten-year prison term and $4.5 million fine for price manipulation.
Impact on HSBC?
Not yet clear.
Update of January 14, 2008: Guess who's advising the transition team
of Lee
Myung-bak of South Korea? It's previous HSBC bigwig David Eldon, who
repeated
the mantra of HSBC being ethical, a claim which, Seoul sources say,
may be put to
the test in this advisory relation****p. We'll see.
Update of January 7, 2008: HSBC announced on January 2 that it signed
an agreement
to sell Wealth & Tax Advisory Services USA to "participating WTAS
managing
directors in a management buy-out for up to $65.9 million. WTAS
provides tax advisory
services in the U.S. to high net worth individuals including HSBC
Private Bank customers."
Ah, tax avoidance -- or could it be, tax evasion?
Update of December 31, 2007: Be aware -- it is HSBC's Household's
position
that it can access credit re****ts even of a person who has not applied
to it for
credit. In Enoch v. Dahle/Meyer Im****ts, L.L.C., et al., No. 2:05-
CV-409 TC (D.
Utah 11/16/07, a consumer tried to hold her car dealer, two lenders,
and a credit
re****ting agency liable after she was denied credit. Rosaline Enoch
went to Dahle
Mazda to buy a vehicle. Enoch chose a car and signed a note for a down
payment.
Enoch also signed a contract of sale, which stated that the dealer****p
agreed to
seek financing for the car loan. Allegedly, the dealer****p led Enoch
to believe
that it already had arranged financing. Household Auto Finance Corp.
denied Enoch
credit, and the dealer****p was unable to arrange other financing.
Dahle demanded
that Enoch pay for the car or agree to rescind the deal, in which case
Dahle would
return the money Enoch had paid. Enoch surrendered the car and
subsequently sued...
The court concluded that when Enoch signed the contract with Dahle,
she authorized
the dealer****p to seek credit on her behalf. "Consequently - even
though Ms.
Enoch did not request credit directly from... Household - there is no
question that
Ms. Enoch participated in the request for credit," the court wrote. Be
afraid
- be very afraid...
Update of December 24, 2007: The Colombia unit of HSBC sucked up a
capital injection
of $20 million from its parent. "This capital injection is a sign of
the growth
potential we have (in Colombia)," Roberto Brigard, chief executive of
HSBC
Colombia SA, said in a statement. In October, HSBC's workers in
Colombia went
on a strike demanding higher wages...
Update of December 17, 2007: Getting over -- the Taiwan government
will pay HSBC
$1.46 billion to take over Chinese Bank, a member of the bankrupt
Rebar Group, Johnson
Chen, the president of Taiwan's government-owned deposit insurer, said
Friday.
Update of December 10, 2007: HSBC re****ted in mid-November that it was
setting aside
$3.4 billion for bad debts in its consumer lending business -- which,
as not noted
by Business Week, including not only credit cards but also high-rate
personal loans...
Update of December 3, 2007: HSBC last week " became the first bank to
bail
out specialized funds known as structured investment vehicles. HSBC
plans to gradually
shut down two bank-sponsored SIVs [Cullinan Finance Ltd. and Asscher
Finance Ltd.
Janus Capital Group Inc.] and take $45 billion in mortgage-backed
securities and
other assets owned by the funds onto its own balance sheet...
Meanwhile, a group
of the world's largest banks, led by Citigroup Inc., Bank of America
Corp. and
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., are seeking to raise a 'super fund' of as
much
as $100 billion that would buy assets from the SIVs to prevent a mass
fire sale
of assets."
Update of November 26, 2007: HSBC chairman Stephen Green has
announced, "We
will invest primarily in the fast growing emerging markets going
forward as we reshape
our business," Green said. "If there are areas of business where we
think
capital is not earning a return and there's nothing we can do to
restructure
the business, then we will follow through the logic of that." However,
he stressed
that there are no plans to exit the U.S. or the bank's U.S. consumer
finance
business, where HSBC had taken hefty impairment charges on bad
mortgages this year,
saying that "just because consumer finance is cyclical isn't a reason
not
to be in it." How 'bout the unethical nature of HSBC's still-
predatory
lending?
Update of November 18, 2007: HSBC Holdings on November 14 said it took
a higher-than-expected
impairment charge of $3.4 billion on bad debts at its HSBC Finance
unit in the third
quarter. "I don't think anybody knows if we've reached the bottom,"
Stephen Green spun on a conference call. HSBC said that the group's
principal
sponsored conduits - Solitaire, Bryant Park, Regency and Abington
Square - are funding
"satisfactorily" with no asset impairments. It added that its off-
balance
sheet SIVs managed by HSBC - Cullinan and Asscher - also currently
have funding
arrangements in place. "Asset quality within the SIVs remains high,
although
two financial institution issuers of assets held by the SIVs were
downgraded subsequent
to the quarter end," it said. We'll see...
Update of November 12, 2007: Again, HSBC, the largest bank in Europe
by market value,
bought a 10 percent stake in Vietnam in Bao Viet Insurance & Finance
for $255
million in September. Now GE moves in...
Update of November 5, 2007: Blast from the past: in the mail last
week came a letter
from the Office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott:
"As you may recall, in January 2003, you made a public information
request...
for certain do***ents regarding Household International...
Subsequently, Household
filed suit against the OAG for declaratory judgment to prevent the
release of those
do***ents. Recently, Household's suit was dismissed by the Court...
Therefore
the OAG is providing you with the enclosed do***ents."
First, there are many and diverse conditions of life upon this earth.
In all of
these is some seed of sorrow. Who can escape from sickness and from
old age and
from death?
We are come to save our fellows from these things. For there is a life
intense with
knowledge and extreme bliss which is untouched by any of them.
To this life we attain even here and now. The adepts, the servants of
V.V.V.V.V.,
have attained thereunto.
It is impossible to tell you of the splendours of that to which they
have attained.
Little by little, as your eyes grow stronger, will we unveil to you
the ineffable
glory of the Path of the Adepts, and its nameless goal.
Even as a man ascending a steep mountain is lost to sight of his
friends in the
valley, so must the adept seem. They shall say: He is lost in the
clouds. But he
shall rejoice in the sunlight above them, and come to the eternal
snows.
Or as a scholar may learn some secret language of the ancients, his
friends shall
say: "Look! he pretends to read this book. But it is unintelligible
--- it
is nonsense." Yet he delights in the Odyssey, while they read vain and
vulgar
things.
We shall bring you to Absolute Truth, Absolute Light, Absolute Bliss.
Many adepts throughout the ages have sought to do this; but their
words have been
perverted by their successors, and again and again the Veil has fallen
upon the
Holy of Holies.
To you who yet wander in the Court of the Profane we cannot yet reveal
all; but
you will easily understand that the religions of the world are but
symbols and veils
of the Absolute Truth. So also are the philosophies. To the adept,
seeing all these
things from above, there seems nothing to choose between Buddha and
Mohammed, between
Atheism and Theism.
The many change and pass; the one remains. Even as wood and coal and
iron burn up
together in one great flame, if only that furnace be of transcendent
heat; so in
the alembic of this spiritual alchemy, if only the zelator blow
sufficiently upon
his furnace all the systems of earth are consumed in the One
Knowledge.
Nevertheless, as a fire cannot be started with iron alone, in the
beginning one
system may be suited for one seeker, another for another.
We therefore who are without the chains of ignorance, look closely
into the heart
of the seeker and lead him by the path which is best suited to his
nature unto the
ultimate end of all things, the supreme realization, the Life which
abideth in Light,
yea, the Life which abideth in Light.
-----Original Message-----
>From: scott.o.schneider@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Sent: Mar 3, 2008 4:51 PM
>To: cloudesign@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Response to your request
>
>March 3, 2008
>
>
>Michael Fitzpatrick
>3010 Nasa Rd 1
>#1506
>Seabrook, TX 77589
>
>
>
>Dear Michael:
>
>I am responding to the e-mail you sent on February 23, 2008. I
have=
>conducted a full review of your e-mail and the events that led up to
your=
>termination. Based on my review, I have concluded that the decision
to=
>terminate your employment for violation of company policy was
appropriate.=
>I recognize that this was not the result you had hoped for, but
the=
>decision is final..
>
>
>We appreciate your accomplishments while at Beneficial and wish you well
in=
>your future endeavors.
>
>
>
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Scott Schneider
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>-----------------------------------------
>******************************************************************
>This E-mail is confidential. It may also be legally privileged. If
>you are not the addressee you may not copy, forward, disclose or
>use any part of it. If you have received this message in error,
>please delete it and all copies from your system and notify the
>sender immediately by return E-mail.
>
>Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be timely, secure,
>error or virus-free. The sender does not accept liability for any
>errors or omissions.
>***************************************
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