[movermike] movermike: $4.8 Billion lost in Brown's gold sell-off

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Posted by movermike:
$4.8 Billion lost in Brown's gold sell-off
http://www.movermike.com/posts/1176662876.shtml


   [bullion_bars.jpg]

   [1]British Chancellor Gordon Brown sold off more than half of
   England's gold reserves (400 tonnes of bullion in a series of auctions
   between 1999 and 2002, when the price was at a 20-year low) and, it
   was revealed, disregarded advice from the Bank of England.

     * The Bank of England, which has managed Britain's gold reserves
     for more than 300 years, was never asked for its advice on whether
     Britain should sell the gold. A senior bank executive said the
     timing of the huge bullion sale was "not debated".

     * At a secret meeting with senior gold traders, Bank of England
     officials were warned that the proposed auctions would achieve the
     worst price for taxpayers. The officials are understood to have
     agreed with the analysis, but said they were powerless to influence
     the Treasury.

     * Several Asian countries, including China, are named by an insider
     as having bought the gold "on the cheap" from the British. The
     Chinese may have made more than pound stg. 1 billion from Mr
     Brown's botched sell-off.

   Who benefitted from the sale besides the Asian countries? Was this
   part of the U.S. strong dollar policy of capping the price of gold
   initiated under Sec. of Treasury Robert Rubin? What kind of leverage
   did we have over the British? Maybe we are closer to some answers!

   [2]British Chancellor Gordon Brown [3]Gold [4]Mover Mike

References

   1. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21562878-2703,00.html
   2. http://technorati.com/tag/British+Chancellor+Gordon+Brown
   3. http://technorati.com/tag/Gold
   4. http://technorati.com/tag/Mover+Mike