Is it time to take your money out of the bank?
Friday on The Glenn Beck Program, Glenn spoke with Chris Martenson, PhD, author of Prosper and cofounder of peakprosperity.com about steps the federal government has taken to trap and seize your money.
"Really spooky things have been happening. And a lot of it has been happening behind the scenes. The U.S. press has been, I guess, regularly silent and quiet on the matter," Martenson said.
One important development occurred in 2013 with a test "bail-in" in Cyprus. According to Martenson, it was a test run to find out if officials could successfully take money from depositors in a bank. The answer? Yes.
"In a bankruptcy of a major bank now, one considered too big to fail, the banks are going to be promptly recapitalized with unsecured debts. Well, that sounds fine. I don't own any unsecured debt. But, yes, you do, if you have a bank account with a bank," Martenson explained.
Most people don't realize the money they've deposited in a bank is considered an "unsecured loan." Should the bank fail, there's a whole host of people in line for that money ahead of the person who deposited it.
Naturally, it's a complicated process to explain, rife with legalese and hidden laws, thanks to lobbyists and the federal government. The bottom line is, stay away from banks with "derivatives" because those derivatives will get paid off before you in the event of a problem.
Glenn pressed Dr. Martenson on how to find out if a bank has derivatives.
"Tell me how to get there right now," Glenn asked. "Where do you go?"
"The handy list I use when I'm telling people about which banks they might want to consider leaving money in or not, you go to the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, it's a division of the Treasury. They print a list. And they'll show you the top 25 banks with the derivative exposure. I tend to avoid those banks," Martenson said.
Go to OCC.gov to see where your bank ranks on the list with derivative exposure.
Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:
Featured Image: U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew (L) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Martin Gruenberg visit at the conclusion of a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council at the Treasury Department, April 13, 2016 in Washington, DC. The JSOC approved a resolution calling for clear guidelines on the ability of mutual funds to hold illiquid assets. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)