History in Brief: Intelligence, Government, Banking, Commerce

British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, Bubbles, Speculators, Wars, Deregulation, Financial Conglomerates, Rome, Gods, Imperial Cult, Angels Mansfield Smith-Cumming adopted 'Cumming' on marriage to:  Leslie Marian Valiant-Cumming heiress of Logie first director of Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) aka M16 SIS headquarters at 2 Whitehall Court great-grandson of John Smith   director of: 1.  South Sea Company     South Sea Bubble - speculation induced     South Sea Company to assume national debt of UK in exchange for lucrative bonds     would reap profit in international trade in:  cloth, agricultural goods, slaves     but by 1720 company began to collapse & shares plunged     Robert Walpole nicknamed 'The Screen' or 'Screenmaster-General'     1721 investigation into corruption scandal of UK govt cabinet     implicated:     John Aislabie, Chancellor of the Exchequer - impeached, imprisoned     James Craggs, the Elder (Postmaster General) - disgraced     James Craggs the Younger (Southern Secretary) - disgraced     Lord Stanhope, head Ministry - impeached - got off b/c Wapol influence     Lord Southerland, head Ministry - impeached - got off b/c Wapol influence     1721 left Walpole as the most important figure in the admin     was appointed     - First Lord of the Treasury     - Chancellor of the Exchequer     - Leader of the House of Commons 2.  East India Company son of Abel Smith, Notthingham banker served Royal Navy: ops against Malay pirates (1875–6) in Egypt 1883 unfit for service, seasickness liked to lie about how he lost his leg enjoyed shocking by stabbing his artificial limb Smith-Cumming came to rely heavily on Sidney Reilly (ie. Shlomo Rosenblum), the 'Ace of Spies' British agent based in St Petersburg WWI - outbreak involved in Special Branch arrest of 22 German spies in England 11 German accused executed Sir Roger Casement found guilty of treason 1916 During WWI Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) offices renamed: -- MI5  (Security Service) = domestic division -- M16 - Foreign Division = Secret Intelligence Service WWI agents for M16 Augustus Agar Paul Dukes John Buchanan Compton Mackenzie W. Somerset Maugham M16 motto: 'Every man his own stylo" refers to use of semen as invisible ink 1919 - Home Office Civil Intelligence Directorate assumes control of MI5  successful WWI MI5/Special Branch partnership disturbed meanwhile, Sinn Fein and Irish Republican Army launching independence campaigns 1920 - IRA Intel ('the Squad') IRA Intelligence Chief General Michael Collins conducts successful ops to assassinate x14 Smith-Cumming SIS case officers hasty British withdrawal of most of remaining SIS agents from Ireland single greatest catastrophe in history of British Secret Service -------/\/\/ South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain trading to the South Seas and other parts of America for the encouragement of fishing British joint-stock company f. 1711 public-private partnership *to consolidate & reduce cost of national debt granted a monopoly to trade with South America Spain controlled South America Britain involved in War of Spanish Succession company never realised significant profit expanded its operations dealing in government debt peaked expansion 1720 company stock rose enormously in value upon expansion but company collapsed, just over its original flotation price known as:  South Sea Bubble aka 'speculative bubble', 'speculative mania', 'balloon' (trade where prices based on implausible view of future trading / returns) term 'bubble' originated from this 1711-1720 British South Sea Bubble Bubble Act 1720 forbade creation of joint-stock companies without royal charter (promoted by South Sea Company prior its collapse) Due to share collapse: national economy greatly reduced people were ruined founders engaged in insider trading using advance knowledge of when national debt was to be consolidated to make large profits from PURCHASING DEBT IN ADVANCE huge bribes given to politicians to support legislation in parliament favourable to the government debt dealing scheme of South Sea Company *company money was used to deal in its own shares select individuals buying shares were given loans backed by those shares to spend on buying more shares public share purchasing encouraged by expectation of vast wealth from South American trade only significant trade done was in slaves & even this wasn't managed profitably politicians disgraced individuals found to have profited unlawfully from company had assets confiscated but most were already wealthy & remained wealthy South Sea Company restructured continued to operate for over a century after the Bubble HQ Threadneedle Street, London 1711-1850s Threadneedle Street location of Bank of England 'the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street' (reserve of UK treasury & others) 5,000 tonnes of gold bars held Threadneedle Street to 2004 was location of London Stock Exchange now:  10 Paternoster Square, London formerly the 'Royal Exchange' founded by English financier Thomas Gresham  (father silk merchant) modelled on Antwerp Bourse (stock exchange) 1571 - opened by Elizabeth I stockbrokers not permitted in Royal Exchange (rude manners) operated from nearby establishments (eg Jonathan's Coffee House) Royal Exchange building later destroyed in Great Fire of London 1669 - rebuilt & re-established, as modern model of stock exchange housed brokers, merchants & merchandise BIRTH OF THE REGULATED STOCK MARKET govt levied heavy penalties on those brokering without licence (1697) fixed number of brokers at 100 (later increased) led to street trading by disaffected or ejected brokers 'Exchange Alley', or 'Change Alley' Seven Years' War (1756–1763) trade at Jonathan's coffee house boomed 1773, Jonathan, together with 150 other brokers, formed a club opened  more formal 'Stock Exchange' in Sweeting's Alley had a set entrance fee, through which traders could enter stock room and trade securities trading also occurred in the Rotunda of the Bank of England fraud was also rife solution:  annual fees and turning the Exchange into a Subscription room 1801 - first regulated exchange in London government used the Exchange's organised market & may not have managed without it to RAISE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR WARS AGAINST NAPOLEON Following war, booming world economy growing market in foreign trade to:  Brazil, Peru, Chile London benefited from international trade Liverpool and Manchester sites of business development 1836 both Liverpool and Manchester Stock Exchanges opened stocks known to rise up to 30% in a week stockbroking began to be  considered a real profession but busts followed the booms eg. 1835 'Spanish panic' Technology - late 1880s - revolution in work of Exchange: telephone ticker tape - digital electronic communication medium         transmitted stock price info over telegraph lines 1870 to 1970 telegraph - long-distance transmission of textual or symbolic messages         like a semaphore / signalling WWI - London financial centre of the world city & Stock Exchange closed the stock exchange July to New Year to prevent bank runs causing re-introduction of street business (challenge system) 1914 and 1918 limitations on business (eg. cash-only transactions) many quit Stock Exchange 1923 - London Stock Exchange - own coat of arms: Dictum Meum Pactum [my word] my covenant My Word is My Bond pre WWII - 1937 London finance men readied for war London Stock Exchange officials drew up plans, based on WWI experience 1939 - opening of war, London Stock Exchange closed doors for a week 1940 incendiary bombing struck LSE floor (extinguished) trading then done mainly on phone, to reduce bodily risks LSE traded and remained open through WWII (trading in basement) 1990 IRA bombing considerate IRA bombers give Reuters warning 30 mins before blast 1986 - 'Big Bang' SUDDEN DEREGULATION OF FINANCIAL MARKETS IN UK 'Big Bang' describes measures, incl: -- abolition of fixed commission charges -- abolition re distinction b/w stockjobbers & stockbrokers -- change from 'open outcry' to electronic, screen-based trading 1995 -  Alternative Investment Market (AIM) launched to let growing companies expand into international markets 1997 - Electronic Trading Service (SETS) launched CREST settlement service launched 2000 - London Stock Exchange's shareholders vote to become public limited company:  LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE PLC Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry between 2001 - 2013 2007—2009 credit crisis FSA was held by some observers to be weak and inactive permitting irresponsible banking & 'credit crunch' led to: shrinking of housing market increased unemployment esp. financial & building sectors) public bail-outs EDX London derivatives exchange (managed by London Stock Exchange) absorbed into Turquoise trading platform (2011) Trading took place on the three Scandinavian linked exchanges: Stockholm Stock Exchange (Sweden) Copenhagen Stock Exchange (Denmark) Oslo Børs (Norway) *some Russian stocks 2009 - Nasdaq takes over OMX cooperation between EDX London & OMX terminated contracts moved to Nasdaq OMX *only Norwegian derivatives with EDX London Turquoise (trading platform) equities trading platform multi-lateral trading facility (MTF) dealing services at 50% discount to traditional exchanges hybrid system:  trading both on and off traditional exchanges advertised as:  pan-European platform based on London set up by consortium of banks: BNP Paribas Citi Credit Suisse Deutsche Bank Goldman Sachs Merrill Lynch Morgan Stanley Société Générale UBS EuroCCP - provide clearing & settlement services Sweden's Cinnober = its trading platform real-time market surveillance system to capture breaches of trading rules etc 2009, London Stock Exchange Group agrees to take a 60% stake in trading platform Turquoise Turquoise had 7% share market subsequent merger with Baikal Global 2014, Turquoise migrated to MillenniumIT platform expansion:  to option & future derivatives, futures contracts DARK POOL 2016, Turquoise plans to extend dark pool to Czech, Poland, Hungary 'dark pools' are trading venues that allow investors to buy and sell shares anonymously prices displayed only after a transaction finalised ***do not provide trading information, such as trade sizes and prices, to the public prior to trades taking place attractive to fund managers who need to conceal trading intentions on large orders trading across major European dark pools totalled 79.2 billion euros ($90.33 billion) ONE MONTH http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-markets-darkpools-idUSL3N18950E Occupy London London Stock Exchange, Paternoster Square initial target of protests 2011 protester attempts to occupy square defeated by police & the courts entrance to square sealed off by police as 'private property' High Court injunction granted ahead of time, prohibiting public access   protestersmoved to St Paul's Cathedral 'Paternoster' L. 'Our Father' 3. A sequence of words spoken as a prayer or a magic formula. 1. often Paternoster The Lord's Prayer. 2. One of the large beads on a rosary on which the Lord's Prayer is said. [from Late Latin : Latin pater, father; see pater + Latin noster, our] http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Paternoster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EDX_London https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turquoise_%28trading_platform%29 NASDAQ Stock Market aka NASDAQ USA stock exchange second-largest exchange in world by market capitalisation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASDAQ LSE Group CEO:  Xavier Rolet b. Aix-les-Bains, France military parents raised in Algeria & France French Air Force Academy MBA from Columbia Business School MSc in Management Science and Finance (KEDGE Business School, bus. school France) post-graduate degree from IHEDN (Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defence) in Paris 1984-1994, Rolet worked at Goldman Sachs in New York & London 1994-1996, Credit Suisse First Boston 1997-2000, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson 2000–2008, Lehman Brothers, various + Banque Lehman Brothers CEO 2009, London Stock Exchange board - later CEO     under his leadership, LSE acquired:         MillenniumIT    2009         Turquoise 2010         FTSE Group 2011         TRS 20111         Gatelab Srl 2012         EuroTLX Srl 2013         LCH.Clearnet 2013         Bonds.com 2014         Exactpro 2015         XTF 2015         Frank Russell Company 2014         Northwestern Mutual (sold asset management arm 2015) Xavier Rolet member PM David Cameron's 'Business Advisory Group' various other, see link member Governor of the Bank of England's Financial Services Forum member Bank of England's Open Forum in Oct 2015, he was (KBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (2015) appointed Echansonnier of Echansonnerie de Châteauneuf-du-Pape (2015) Knight of the National Order   of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic by Presidential decree (2016)     Legion of Honour     highest French order for military and civil merits     established 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte     hilarious:          order's motto "Honneur et Patrie"  ("Honour and Fatherland")     French Revolution, all French orders of chivalry were abolished     French Revolution replaced orders of chivalry with Weapons of Honour     Chivalric order - equestrian order, society of knights     Catholic military order of Crusades (circa 1099-1291) founding or inspiration     paired with medieval concepts of chivalry     fall of Acre in 1291 = end of crusades     however, many crusades against Ottoman Empire planed & executed     well into 14th century & 15th century     ongoing military effort against Islam     fall of Constantinople 1450s     rise of Ottoman Empire     15th century orders of chivalric dynastic orders of knighthood     became courtly fashion, some purely honorific     institutions gave rise to modern 'orders of merit' of states     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chivalric_order SWEDEN Royal Order of the Seraphim 1748, founded by Frederick I of Sweden Hebrew, pl. 'seraphim' = the burning ones, celestial or heavenly being in Christianity & Judaism highest rank in Christian angelic hierarchy fifth rank in Jewish angelic hierarchy of ten triple invocation of holiness (formula known as Trisagion) influenced theology, literature & art  *trisagion = ancient hymn seen in works depicting angels, heaven & apotheosis (to deify, glorification of subject to divine level) word seraph/seraphim appears three times in the Torah used to describe a type of celestial being or angel other five uses of the word refer to serpents heavenly creatures standing nearest to throne of god also called the Ikisat:  serpents, dragons, alternate term for Hell under the rule of Gabriel flying elements of the sun multiple wings and burst into song at sunrise Kabbalah: Maimonides placed the seraphs in the fifth of ten ranks of angels Seraphim = part of angelarchy of modern Orthodox Judaism Medieval Christian theology, seraphim =  caretakers of god's throne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraph https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Order_of_the_Seraphim Great Chain of Being Medieval and Renaissance thinkers humans unique position on 'chain of being' straddling spiritual & physical thought ot possess divine powers:  reason, love, imagination like angels, spiritual beings unlike angels, human souls bound to physical body subject to passions & physical sensations, just like animals lower on chain of being angel is only capable of intellectual sin such as pride (see Lucifer fall from heaven) humans, however, capable of both intellectual sin & physical sin (eg. gluttony) humans, sensory:  sight, touch, taste, sound, smell - limited by organs highest ranking human being:  king great chain was seen as a God-given ordering ranking of world's organisms goes back to Aristotle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_chain_of_being Rome - apotheosis process where deceased ruler was recognised as having been divine by his successor by decree of Senate & popular consent (usually) grovelling to popular former rulers by new rulers done to legitimise their subsequent rule upper class did not always take part in imperial cult (subject of satire) at height of imperial cult, emperor's family, lovers etc deified as well sometimes temples and columns erected as places of worship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apotheosis LSE launched CURVE GLOBAL new Futures Exchange co-owned with:     - Barclays Bank     - Bank of America     - Citi     - Goldman Sachs     - Societe Generale     - Chicago Board Options Exchange 2016 -  Deutsche Boerse AG to merger with LSE         companies to be bought under new holding co:  UK TopCo         HQ in both London & Frankfurt         will create one of the largest exchange companies in the world         combined value:  £21bn     terms:         45.6% -  LSE shareholders         54.4% -  Deutsche Boerse shareholders Xavier Rolet said LSE & Deutsche Boerse merger:     "creating an industry-defining combination"     merger anticipates savings on combined operation costs:  @ about 20%     30% of new group's revenue = from UK     30% of new groups revenue = from Europe     19% of new groups revenue = from USA     06% of new groups revenue = from other     LSE group     owns Milan-based Borsa Italiana     Result:  combination of London, Frankfurt and Milan     group better positioned to compete against large US peers     boosting position in China and Asia generally     Donald Brydon (LSE chairman)     will be chair:  UK TopCo     Carsten Kengeter (Deutsch Boerse chief exec)     will be chief executive:  UK TopCo     Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)     (owns New York Stock Exchange)     considering making offer for LSE     http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35818997 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Rolet Open house at palace of ill-gotten gains By Clive Aslet PUBLISHED: 00:01, Mon, Jun 3, 2013 EXTRACTS (not in order) ... Amazingly it’s not only still in private hands (indeed, the Marquess of Cholmondeley actually owns two stately piles, the other being Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire) but like Goodwood, Arundel Castle, Chatsworth and Alnwick Castle, it is firing on all cylinders. To this day Walpole remains our longest serving prime minister. After the uncertainty and wars that followed James II’s expulsion in 1688, his 20 years in the job – serving from 1721 until 1742 without a break – brought stability and peace. Walpole also steered the country through the Jacobite rebellion and all the anti-Hanoverian plots. His job of political management was made easier by George I, newly arrived from Hanover and bored by the House of Commons. He delegated to Walpole. Critics accused Walpole of corruption and the evidence of Houghton suggests they had a point. The charitably disposed might say it was not only showcase of great art but a tool of statecraft. It could supposedly accommodate 100 guests at an hour’s notice. http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/404501/Open-house-at-palace-of-ill-gotten-gains Marquess of Cholmondeley "... descendent of both the Rothschild family and the Sassoon family through his paternal grandmother, Sybil Sassoon." [wikipedia] Audio | Veni Sancte Spiritus Audio | Veni Sancte Spiritus Audio | Veni Sancte Spiritus Think I like the last one best.