IMF set to investigate US FinancesOfficials with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have informedBernanke about a plan that would have been unheard-of in the past: ageneral examination of the US financial system. The IMF's board ofdirectors has ruled that a so-called Financial Sector AssessmentProgram (FSAP) is to be carried out in the United States. It is nothingless than an X-ray of the entire US financial system.
As part of the assessment, the Fed, the Securities and ExchangeCommission (SEC), the major investment banks, mortgage banks and hedgefunds will be asked to hand over confidential documents to the IMFteam. They will be required to answer the questions they are askedduring interviews. Their databases will be subjected to so-calledstress tests -- worst-case scenarios designed to simulate the broadereffects of failures of other major financial institutions or acontinuing decline of the dollar.
For seven years, US President George W. Bush refused to allow the IMFto conduct its assessment. Even now, he has only given the IMF boardhis consent under one important condition. The review can begin inBush's last year in office, but it may not be completed until he hasleft the White House.
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,562291,00.html
https://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/willie/2008/0702.html
Bodes well for hard assets?? Silver??