Telegraph took down story on HSBC accounts 'black hole', says Peter Oborne

Former chief political commentator says in resignation letter he learned Harry Wilson’s article was swiftly removed ‘even though there were no legal problems’

The Guardian, Tara Conian, 18 February 2015

Peter Oborne resigned from the Telegraph over the paper’s coverage of the
HSBC scandal. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

One of the things Peter Oborne, the Daily Telegraph’s former chief political commentator, alleged in his outspoken resignation article was that a story about financial analysts claiming there was a “black hole” in HSBC’s accounts was removed from the paper’s website.

Oborne said he had learned that the online story, by the Telegraph’s then banking editor Harry Wilson, was swiftly removed from the website “even though there were no legal problems”.

“Mr Wilson rather bravely raised this issue publicly at the ‘town hall meeting’ when [Telegraph Media Group editor-in-chief] Jason Seiken introduced himself to staff. He has since left the paper,” he added.

Wilson, now City editor of the Times, tweeted a link to the January 2014 story, headlined “HSBC faces £70bn capital hole warn Hong Kong analysts”. The link now goes through to a Telegraph.co.uk page saying “Sorry - we cannot find the page youare looking for”.

However, Wilson’s deleted story is available on other sites which at the time linked to the Telegraph’s coverage.

In the article, Wilson went on to quote from an “incendiary” broker’s note, from two senior analysts at research firm Forensic Asia, saying they believed “HSBC could have overstated its assets by more than £50bn and ultimately need a capital injection of close to £70bn before the end of this decade”.

He pointed out that one of the analysts, Andrew Haskins, worked at HSBC for 15 years, while the other author, Thomas Monaco, was “a former senior bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and previously worked as a fund manager at FrontPoint Partners, the hedge fund that spotted the US subprime bubble”.

The story also said Forensic Asia “began its coverage of Britain’s largest banking group with a ‘sell’ recommendation, warning the lender had between $63.6bn (£38.7bn) and $92.3bn of ‘questionable assets’ on its balance sheet, ranging from loan loss reserves and accrued interest to deferred tax assets, defined benefit pension schemes and opaque level 3 assets”.

In another tweet Wilson described the analysts’ report as “the most aggressive research report on a bank” he had ever read and said it “has some pretty startling numbers”.

Other news organisations also believed it merited attention. Among those who reported Forensic Asia’s controversial findings were financial news agency Bloomberg, US broadcaster CNBC and the International Business Times.

Oborne claimed the removal of Wilson’s story from the Telegraph website was part of a pattern of behaviour. He alleged the paper had discouraged stories critical of HSBC since the start of 2013, when the bank suspended its advertising with the paper following a Telegraph investigation into accounts held with HSBC in Jersey. He said one former Telegraph executive told him HSBC was “the advertiser you literally cannot afford to offend”.

“The Telegraph’s recent coverage of HSBC amounts to a form of fraud on its readers,” he said. “It has been placing what it perceives to be the interests of a major international bank above its duty to bring the news to Telegraph readers. There is only one word to describe this situation: terrible.”

Owners of the Daily Telegraph, Frederick and David Barclay.

Photograph: James Fraser/Rex Features

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.

Democracy itself will change and you're going to see it soon. The hold-outs, the few countries I have mentioned in the past, are doomed unless they recalibrate. They're doomed to be the same as they have been and won't be able to exist as they are now with everyone changing around them.

I mentioned North Korea in the past. Give it time. Right now, the young man is under the control of his father's advisors. But when they're gone, you will see something different, should he survive. Don't judge him yet, for he is being controlled.

In government, if you're entire voting base has the ability to talk to itself without restriction and comes up with opinions by itself without restriction, it behooves a politician to be aware and listen to them. This will change what politicians will do. It will change the way things work in government. Don't be surprised when some day a whole nation can vote all at once in a very unusual way. Gone will be the old systems where you used to count on horseback riders to report in from faraway places. Some of you know what I am talking about. Government will change. The systems around you, both dark and light, will change. You're going to start seeing something else, too, so let's change the subject and turn the page.. .."