Is it something about their name that gives these Costello fellows a predisposition toward dangerous money moves? With our snide bridesmaid treasurer, it was losses from dodgy currency deals and the sale of Asstralian gold reserves right before the resource boom. The value of our gold pile would be triple by now if he hadn’t frittered it away to fund his beleaguered party’s electoral bribes and advertising amongst other reckless extravagances.
Now his namesake appears to be a stubby short of a sixpack as well when it comes to protecting Asstralians’ financial future.
“Federal Labor says the American financial institution hired by the Future Fund is linked to the Enron pension fund collapse in the US.
Earlier this month the Chicago-based Northern Trust Corporation won a competitive tender process bidding alongside Australian banks to manage the Future Fund’s banking requirements.
The decision has caused concern among the Federal Government backbench and unions.
Labor Senator Nick Sherry has told a Senate Committee that Northern Trust was the Enron superannuation fund’s trustee and was alleged to have breached a duty of care.
The Enron collapse cost employees more than $1 billion.
Senator Sherry says the Future Fund managers should further investigate the company’s credentials.
“I’m just surprised … that the fact that Northern Trust had to settle to the tune of $37.5 million didn’t leave you to further question what the behaviour – alleged or otherwise – of Northern Trust was in respect to the Enron Pension Fund collapse,” he said to the general manager of the Future Fund agency, Paul Costello.
Mr Costello says he has no concerns about Northern Trust.
“They were caught at a difficult time responding to an instruction from the sponsor of the plan and to prepare a book of records for transfer,” he said.
“The timing was unfortunate so we were not concerned that this represented a risk to us in the terms of the arrangements we were seeking to put in place with Northern Trust.”
The current balance in the Fund is $51 billion but that figure is projected to rise to $140 billion by 2020.
The Fund was established last year for the sole purpose of meeting the cost of public sector superannuation liabilities.”
What is the rodent doing shipping control of Australians’ money and futures out of the country in the first place? What guarantee can this septic bank give that the money will be used to fund Australian development via Australian companies and not line the pockets of septic banks and their parasites?
