The New York Times, which fancies itself to be "the nation's newspaper of record," is in deep financial trouble.
In dire need of funds, it has put its New York City headquarters building in midtown Manhattan up for a sale-leaseback transaction that is expected to produce $225 million. The company needs cash to service an impending $400 million debt payment that comes due this spring. It also has mortgaged a major block of its stock to Mexican billionaire, Carlos Slim, in exchange for a cool $250 million loan. With that loan, Slim's stake in the company could grow from 6.9% to 17%.
Deep in Debt
For fiscal-year 2008, The Times announced, on January 28, 2009, a net loss of nearly $58 million and on February 19th,The Times’ board of directors announced it was suspending the quarterly dividend. Thus, this once-mighty company’s stock is now trading at under $4 per share on the N.Y. Stock Exchange.
But even with all its financial troubles you would think The Times could at least spend a little cash on good writers and reporters who have the intellectual capacity to produce accurate headlines and stories.
I refer to the biased, class warfare, headline in today's issue that reads: "Group of Rich Americans Sues UBS to Keep Names Secret in Tax Case."
The accompanying article also refers gratuitously to "wealthy Americans" without explaining by what method the writer, Lynnley Browning, determined how any of these people were either "rich" or "wealthy" -- or what those words mean in this context.
After all, even President Obama arbitrarily defines "rich" as anyone earning $250,000 or more annually, the group whose taxes he intends to raise to finance his socialist programs.
Upset UBS Account Holders
The laws suit that is the subject of the article rightfully accuses UBS and Switzerland’s financial regulator, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, (FINMA) of violating Swiss bank secrecy laws and of conducting illegal activities with foreign authorities forbidden by Swiss law.
It stems from UBS’s nervous agreement last week to turn over to the U.S. government the names of about 250 Americans who allegedly used UBS offshore accounts and entities to evade U.S. taxes.
The suit was filed by a Zurich lawyer on behalf of a dozen UBS American clients among the reported 250-300 UBS account holders whose names FINMA also agreed to allow UBS to turn over to the U.S. government in a questionable settlement deal that I explained earlier this week.
Suit Asks Uphold Bank Secrecy
The law suit should be well grounded because Swiss law provides an established judicial procedure when a third party requests information about the holder of a Swiss bank account. Several of the plaintiffs already were using this procedure to appeal the potential release of their names and the Swiss courts have not ruled yet on those appeals.
Under duress from the U.S. Dept. of Justice that amounted to international blackmail, (the DoJ threatened to put UBS out of business in the United States), a nervous Swiss government ignored its own bank secrecy law and gave up the names based on another law that allows FINMA to act when a bank is in jeopardy of a collapse that could impact the bank's standing or that of the Swiss national economy.
If UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, went down, it would take with it much of the Swiss economy -- and probably banks all over Europe, as well. Shaky European Union banks already are estimated to be stuck with over US$23 trillion in so-called "toxic assets."
What's In a Word?
The dictionary defines "rich" as having wealth or great possessions; abundantly supplied with resources, means, or funds and "wealthy" as having great wealth; rich; affluent.
It may be that those financially and politically impoverished souls at The New York Times believe anyone who can afford a Swiss bank account (or a Zurich lawyer) must be rich.
Accuracy and unbiased reporting never has been a strong suit at the traditionally left-wing Times.
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