2.  Confoederatio Europæ,Europa Helvetica or Europe as ex-Yugoslavia

3.  Mosul Vilayet - Manoeuvering over Europe's Strategic Oil Reserve

4.  League of Nations, United Nations and then what?

5.  And if we were all contaminated Gulf War veterans?

6.  SELEX- the Netizen way to do business

7.  wealth privacy battle

1.  The Dawn of Monotheism Revisted  (1 file: 111 KB,  2 maps: 176 KB)

     Our look at the dawn of monotheism sheds light on little known, yet hard facts which,for the curious, give rise to such heretic questions as:
-     And if the Genesis, essentially, were historical, with Eden a recognizable site?
-     Are the "Children of Israel" really not Egyptians?
-     Could Abraham/Ibrahim be identical with Zarathushtra/Zoroaster?
-     What difference between Jacob, Akhenaton, Moses, Aaron, Salomon, Oedipus?
-     Is Horemheb, the Pharaoh, hiding behind the apparent composite "Joseph"?

     Not affiliated with any religion, sect or related organization, politically neutral and mandated by no one except our individual conscience, CORUM thus continues in its 30th year of ivory tower work. It does so in the hope of re-discovering and strengthening some of our common roots, like *S*L*M* - as its contribution to help resolve some problems which have marked the out-going century and which have turned the Middle East into a permanent powder keg.  Of course, we have no intention to add to the tensions there or anywhere else, and we do not want to hurt anybody's feelings.  Yet, whoever might be upset by statements of fact, ideas and questionsrunning either against received wisdom or the party line may want to avoid this theme.  For browsing, down-loading or printing the full MONOTHEISM text, click here.
 
 

2.   Europe: Confoederatio Europae, Europa Helvetica
or Europe as ex-Yugoslavia

     With the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, the world had entered a new age for which no statesman or institution anywhere was adequately prepared.  Like before him Alexis de Tocqueville,Karl Marx, Friedrich List, Edgar Salin, Friedrich Hayek and others, Henry Kissinger was called upon to look back for providing some guidance.  He did so brilliantly in his contribution "De Gaulle: What He Would Do Now" to the International Herald Tribune (7 May 1990).  For he brought out some often overlooked fundamentals inAmerican-French, American-European and French-German relations which continue to dominate and, at least on the French side, have been recognized as such.

     Others apparently didn't find it opportune to call on their "Kissingers" (i.e. today's Blochers⁽¹⁾, Dahrendorfs, von der Flühs, von Habsburgs, Madelins, Pestalozzis, de Villiers, Wittmanns, etc.) - and it shows.  For it was - in political terms - as if the magnetic field had once again disappeared, with those equipped with and relying only on a magnetic compass left woefully disoriented.  That is: until they will have adapted to fundamentally changed conditions and found an adequate new guidance system.  Such a system had to be independent of outside influences.  Borrowing further from the field of natural science, it could be described as the human equivalent of an inertial compass⁽²⁾.

     All this was not only understood by two visionary Statesmen, but gave rise for them also to act on the future of Europe. Presidents Havel and Mitterrand called on outstanding Europeans to discuss their ideas on where and how to go from hereat the European Confederation Conference in Prague in June 1991.  I.e. at the very moment, Yugoslavia started to unravel at the seams, exposed the deficiencies of Europe's present architecture and gave a glimpse of what may lay ahead on its well-intended, yet ill-designed and worn-out tracks.  Unimpressed by what was cooking in "Brussels", the conference participants set their sight on the new horizons which were thus opened up to Europe's East.  They analyzed the prevailing conditions specifically in the fields of energy, environment, transports and communications, circulation of persons, and culture.  And they came up with an astonishingly clear, coherent and widely supported reading of what may be called their collective inertial compass. The developments which have since taken place on the initial "European" paths confirm both timeliness and substance of that memorable gathering.  As a building block for follow-up meetings and measures, the final report of this Prague Conference is being presented here - initially in French only - together with related material and further food for thought.

     Some 67 years ago, Geneva was the venue for a quite similar, yet still-born undertaking launched by the then-foreign ministers of France and Germany, Aristide Briand and Gustave Stresemann.  Their plan essentially provided for:

-     Full maintenance of "the sovereignty of States and their equality in law", a "Federal Union which shall be fully compatible with the respect for the traditions and individual traits of each people".

-     "Establishment of a common market for maximum elevation of the level of human well-being on the entire territory of the European community ... by way of progressive liberalization and systematic simplification of the exchange of goods, capital and persons".

-     "Regeneration of agricultural regions ... Cooperation of universities and academies ...development of contacts and exchange of views between lawmaker circles of different European countries."

     To wit, historically, Geneva's Hinterland consisted of the Pays de Gex to the West and North (396 km²) and the Haute Savoie's free zone to its East and South (3112 km²).  Since the Republic and Canton of Geneva (282 km²) in 1815 joined Switzerland (41290 km²), this odd couple has lived mostly in two bedrooms.  Not surprisingly, some Germanic compatriots rarely missed an opportunity to undercut Geneva and play up their economic prowess - as long as it lasted, that is.  So, with the evolutions taking place inside and outside of Heidyland, Geneva's future may again lay in and grow from its past.  Geneva may again become what it used to be, i.e. the culturally, economically and politically vibrant and radiating center of its historic Hinterland, theregio genevensis.  As such - some observers believe - it might even evolve into a genuine lighthouse shining far beyond its narrow borders, a universally esteemed point of convergence or more on the way to the Confoederatio Europae.

______________
(1)    Together with AUNS, an influential conservative grassroots organization pursuing principles and visions seen to have been dear to Charles De Gaulle, Franz-Joseph Strauss, Margaret Thatcher and Jesse Helms, the maverick, popular and ever less circumventable tribune, industrialist and Member of Parliament Christoph Blocher presented in December 1997 a partisan, yet fairly accurate analysis - "La Suisse et l'Europe - 5 ans après le rejet de l'EEE", made on the fifth anniversary of the Swiss voters' overwhelming refusal, in December 1992, to join the European Economic Space - arguing against Switzerland's further integration into the present European structures while ignoring some often self-inflicted economic, cultural and political drawbacks of Switzerland's "Sonderfall" policies.
(2)    Interestingly though - and whether we still know it or not - basically, we are all equipped with such an instrument in the form of intuition and knowledge about guiding principles.
 
 

This map was originally attached to the manuscript which was published under the title "FROM BROKEN PROMISES TO REAL MINORITY PROTECTION IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA" (UN document E/CN.4/1994/NGO/54). It outlines then-conceivable mutually agreeable UN trusteeship functions in various parts of former Yugoslavia.  It remains to be seen whether these and similar ideas may reflect more than mutually missed opportunities, and whether they still serve a useful purpose towards a viable resolution of the current conflicts in that area.
 
 

3.    Mosul Vilayet - Manoeuvering over Europe's Strategic Oil Reserve

     This underdog site (remember the PLO?) reflects an open-ended running story.  All characters involved are real, from President Saddam Hussein to Presidents Bush (I & II) & Clinton, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan and all the other players.  Besides being instructive, it could be an amusing study of human nature and Realpolitik.  If it were not for the very real tragedies of the millions of Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Jews, Kurds and Turkomans trapped in Northern Iraq (Mosul Vilayet) whose "internationally protected" properties - i.e. Europe's strategic petroleum reserves - revealingly continue to be looted in favor of a purportedly ostracized Iraqi regime and a bankrupt United Nations.  All moves, tricks and fumblings thus brought to light are authentic, even though their traces presented here do not always tell the full story - or the latest or where it all will really lead to.

    So don't jump to hasty conclusions.  See for yourself what the official documents say.  See how far - on paper at least - the aspirations of the peoples concerned have already been formulated unmistakably.  Look at some of the actions and political (mis)steps at the UN and elsewhere and at their results.  And take a sniff at how, over the past decade, things have come about and - like an idea whose time has come - may not be stopped by any means, pundits to the contrary notwithstanding.  For who, only a few years ago, would have envisioned tribal structures, rather than externally imposed democratic institutions, to provide the road map for a way out of the conflict which has ravaged Afghanistan?  Is this lesson applicable to the situation in Iraq, where leaders of ethnic tribes have long been sidelined in favor of externally upheld leaders of political tribes?  If yes, will it be heeded by the powers that be any time soon?  Only time will tell.  Meanwhile, you may also draw inspiration from the wisdom expressed on the reverse side of Victor Hugo's medal:

    All of which will allow you also to decide for yourself whether you, too want to get into the act - perhaps, as a 21^st Century Gulbenkian, by becoming part of the solution and by throwing your hat into the ring while the dices are still rolling.  In the event just contact us at swissbit@solami.com    At any rate, you may be interested to stay tuned, to scroll or click on any link and let your curiosity be your guide.

Our introductory remarks are followed by Iraq's Request for Admission to the League of Nations, including its Declaration of 30 May 1932.  On the basis of these precedent-taking Iraqi "obligations of international concern"  Iraq became independent, was admitted to the League of Nations and, with none of these minority and property protection obligations diminished or even voided, joined the United Nations in 1945.  As these and related documents are not easily accessible, they are reproduced either fully or - as in the case of the UN study on the continued validity of such undertakings - in the relevant passages.

     The other sections giving voice to the people concerned contain - also in extenso - the official founding documents of the Mosul Vilayet Council and the declarations notably of their Representatives as delivered to the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.  Finally, there is a considerable, indexed section, FOR THE RECORD, for readers interested in background material - i.e. historians, political scientists, lawyers, lawmakers, journalists, etc.   It is devoted to how all this came about, went so far, and may go where?

Mosul Vilayet

Baghdad     141227      524414      750421    62565     20771    1360304
Basra          138741        42558      721414    10088       2551      785600
Mosul           91009      579713        22180    14835     55470      703378
total            370977    1146685     1494015    87488     78792    2849282
 

Editor's Introduction

    In his capacity as Secretary of the Good Offices Group of European Lawmakers, the editor outlined the Mosul Vilayet Project as follows in his note of 18 June 1992:

This opens up interesting possibilities and perspectives for all those who pay not only lip services but are genuinely interested in having the butchers and hostage-takers of Baghdad promptly removed from power, and to bring peace and stability to this region. All of the Mosul Vilayet, in an urgent first step, must be effectively liberated from the whims, mercy and bloody rule of Baghdad. This may be achieved by corresponding UN decisions - e.g. creation of a UN trust territory there. The key terms of reference could be the international guarantees which have been in place for those all-too-long neglected and indeed grossly abused minorities. And if the people there so desired, it could facilitate a return to the structure which seems to reflect best their traditions and strong tribal roots, i.e. a kingdom.

On this background it is a telling sign of the time that the leaders of the some 75 tribes of the Mosul Vilayet which, historically, have not been known to agree and join forces on many things, almost unanimously have agreed, put their signature on the dotted line and now have actually taken charge in the above sense on behalf of all ethnic groups and religious communities there. At the conclusion of their meeting in Ankara they adopted on 15 May 1992, the fundamental Declaration of Self-Determination, and they set up the Mosul Vilayet Council as that territory's supreme authority in political, humanitarian, economic, cultural and other matters. With the recent - essentially rigged elections in the liberated part of the Mosul Vilayet having manifestly failed to produce the indispensable unity and competent leadership for effectively addressing the urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs there, the Council - working through the traditional tribal links - is now putting into place the structures which can be relied upon for all related tasks. As such, and with the cooperation of the humanitarian organizations seeking to effectively help the people who are victimized by an embargo of both the UN and Baghdad, the Mosul Vilayet Council may finally put an end to the wasteful and corruption-prone system of international humanitarian aid being channelled through externally built-up political parties and scrupulous, opportunistic and essentially self-serving party leaders. This should also make the external aid more effective and worthwhile, and provide for its gradual replacement by self-help programs based on regular, mutually beneficial economic terms.

The Good Offices Group of European Lawmakers [by way of its research branch CORUM] has assisted the tribe leaders in this promising initiative. We invite our friends and interested persons to contact us and to consider in their own fields of competence such ways and means which might contribute to the ultimate success of this challenging and demanding enterprise."

4.    League of Nations, United Nations and then what?

Introduction

      The Written Statement to the United Nations Economic and Social Council of 17 July 1995 said it all in the title:

This followed unbearable developments on the ground in the midst of Europe which the International Court of Justice gravely reflected on in its Order of 13 September 1993 by stating, inter alia, that

while "all parties to the [1948 Genocide] Conventionhave thus undertaken 'to prevent and punish' the crime of genocide", the Court "was not satisfied that all that might have been done has been done to prevent commission of the crime of genocide in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina" since the Court gave its Order of 8 April 1993.

     Whatever the future holds for the venerable Palais des Nations in Geneva,its Archives and Library have all become an important factor of their own for conflict prevention, analysis and resolution, for diplomacy and for international arbitration. The UN's growing budget problems constitute a serious menace to the maintenance of the related services. And the on-going efforts to computerize the catalogues of both the Archives and the Library and to provide for prompt world-wide access to this unique stock of information have been severely hampered the more so as they continue to lack a solid basis independent of the vaguaries of the UN buget cutters.

     Thus the Swiss Parliamentarians were right on target when, on 8 February 1990, they unanimously adopted a request to the Swiss Government to examine which good offices in line with its traditions Switzerland could provide to the family of nations.  This was to be in lieu of joining the UN, as a message of traditional genuine solidarity.  Indeed, instead of supporting the UN budget with its eventual share of some US$ 15 million, they preferred to help secure the maintenance of all related services both in times of war and peace.  Those with a memory, with a vision and an agenda reaching beyond the next election have regretted the Swiss administration's initial dismal handling of this initiative.  And they have not given up hope to live the realization of this relatively modest, yet universally acclaimed Swiss good offices project.

In 1998, modern Switzerland will celebrate its 150th anniversary. Perhaps by that time the Swiss leadership, too will have not merely recognized the illusions and dangers associated with ill-considered pipe-dreams - such as the uncoordinated and opportunistic revaluation of Switzerland's gold reserves as a means to finance the foreseeably dead-on-arrival seven-billion Swiss franc Solidarity Foundation. Circumstances may thus bring about an early change of mind and encourage the Swiss Government to take advantage of that occasion to go ahead in earnest with this economically - and politically - far more rational and realizable project.

_____________

(1)      A mere window-dressing won't wash. Commenting this further surprise announcement of the Swiss Government, the Tribune de Genève of 14 August 1997 said it bluntly in its title: "Le palais Wilson ne suffit pas à fair une capitale des droits de l'homme" (the Palais Wilson is not enough for making a human rights capital).  Indeed, moving the UN Center for Human Rights to Geneva's most prestigious and at great cost renovated plush Palais Wilson - which initially housed the League of Nations -will present an opportunity for the overdue house-cleaning at the UN in Geneva (UNOG) - as would moving a bit further, say to Bonn, Paris or elsewhere, as one discontent observer suggested.  At any rate, it will be no substitute, not for effectively reigning in apparently out-of-control UN officials and even less for the host government's prompt and reliable return to visa and other practices not reminiscent of WW2 but fully in line with its obligations and more noble humanitarian traditions.Indeed, if it wants to be taken seriously, the UN must strictly heed and enforce first of all in-housethe human rights it preaches on the public square.  And it must under no circumstance be seento violate its own Charter, principles and rules inside its own walls, as happened repeatedly and intolerably, e.g., in the case of Mohammed Sidik Mahmoud.  If it did and continues to do so on its own, it may be bad enough for its confidence-inspiring and hope-generating new Secretary-General to personally and radically root out this cancer at the UNOG.  But should it turn out that its officials there were allowed to do so at the request of the host or third governments, it may already be too late for corresponding surgery and reforms.  And the surgeon may be left to record the UN's thus accelerated pace to where the League of Nations eventually wound up - in the dustbin of history.

Whatever the outcome there, the Swiss Government has its own independent responsibilities in this matter. Ignoring alarm bells rung by Swiss lawmakers wont make the problems go away.  It would thus be well advised if it were to stop stone-walling and to promptly clean up its own act with more than

-    transparent cover-up phrases,
-    gesticulations, like this hastily arranged, impractical and thus widely criticized, for counter-productive Palais Wilson attribution to the UN Center for Human Rights, and
-    failure-prone and foreseeably harmful acts of desperation, like the unwise, ill-considered and non-coordinated announcement of a unilateral gold revaluation for "funding" a seven billion SFR Solidarity Foundation which has little chance to become more than a growing headache.

Swiss Federal Councillors who are worth both their salt and continued public trust will never forget who is the real sovereign of this country.  Moreover, they will carefully observe and attend to the often obscured undercurrents of history, also in such fields as ethnicity, indigenous peoples and regionalism. They can and will thus not even be tempted to place Switzerland's eggs all into one basket - not on the NATO front, not on the EU front and not on the UN front. Staying outside the largely discredited and perhaps also irreparably damaged political parts of the United Nations system, they will instead develop an infrastructure and supporting rôle for collecting and maintaining the cultural and legal records particularly of the indigenous peoples as a coming focal point of related activities - beginning with the vast and essentially under-used orphaned treaty material commendably put together by professor Alfonso Martinez. Which would be perfectly in line with Switzerland's generally appreciable and appreciated traditions, as even its most vocal foreign critics seem to admit. Indeed, very much attentive to "vox populi vox Dei",Senator Helms, for one, seems to have been favorably impressedby the "Sonderfall Schweiz", i.e. some of the more honorable things typically Swiss,like the world-wide unique votes of a truly independent-minded people on
 (a) membership in the UN,
 (b) membership in the European Economic Space,
 (c) prohibition to acquire nuclear weapons, and
 (d) abolition of the national army.
 Reflecting over 700 years of democratic traditions and a deeply-rooted keen sense for what it takesto stay lastingly out of other people's quarrels - all these proposals were resoundingly rejected by the Swiss voters in the past few decades.
 
 

5.    And if we were all contaminated Gulf War veterans?
(under construction - watch this space! - meanwhile, go to: http://www.gulfwar.org/ezine.html )
 
 

6. SELEX - the Netizen way to do business  (under construction - watch this space!)
...
.....
 

     The Net seems to be uniquely suited for allowing individuals to trade freely.  The recent, for once commendable decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to spur world-wide the exercise of this individually wealth-generating activity - and to effectively stand in the way of governmental and private attempts to frustrate the ingenuity of the truly liberated Citizen and homo oeconomicus - see also the Wall Street Journal editorial "Virtual VAT, Visible Harm, Internet taxation means less innovation and less revenue" of 2 March 2000. Bill Clinton deserves credit for letting the Internet evolve into a genuinely tax- and customs-free virtual market place where real values are traded with real value currencies.  That is if - a big if, granted - the current U.S. President, for once, will not change his mind again in tune with the music he heard from his last visitor.  And if instead he rises up to the occasion with a sense of history and real leadership by not heeding the whims and howls of some IRS, NSA and other mostly self-serving administrative opponents.  In which case perhaps even the American citizens will regain some of their long lost constitutional prerogatives the responsible exercice of which is indispensable if democratic forms of government are not to turn into pervertable and dangerous fig leaves of reckless demagogues and their gutless fellow-travellers.  And if instead they are to be genuine, meaningful and enriching for the only sovereign there should be, namely the upright Citizen.

     We intend to help things along in this sense by putting on the Net an automated and commission-free goods and services exchange and by offering professional support services. To this effect, the PILLORY, the NETIZEN DEBT EXCHANGE detailed elsewhere on this site, may serve as a pilot project and testing range.  Eventually, the thus enlarged exchange and the associated services will be operated  under the registered name of SELEX whose theoretical underpinnings - inspired by such visionaries and pathfinders as Burdick, Hayek, Morgenstern, Salin and Teller - have evolved over the past some thirty years and were first published on the occasion of the first Internet congress, held in Basel in 1983 (its name then was videotex).

    Selex Development + Marketing AG was originally established in September 1983 as a privately held Swiss shareholding company with a nominal capital of SFR 50000.  It developed a lead with regard to important features which make the Net uniquely qualified for this borderless electronic exchange. With our own resources and seed money from suitable co-investors, we plan to reorganize these assets and refound this company with a part of its shares to be traded publicly beginning later in 2000.  If you have science on this you are welcome to join our efforts, and if you have venture capital, let's see what we can do together (you may contact us at: swissbit@solami.com).

    Tender offers for assisting us in our planned going public are herewith solicited.  As are bids for SELEX share options by persons not prohibited by law to acquire such options - i.e. the right to buy a SELEX share at its nominal value of SFR 10 if and when they will be placed on the market.  For these and other such highly speculative options, a pilot electronic exchange with the very name SELEX has thus been put on a test spin on the Internet.  The latest recorded trade involved 500 SELEX share options at a price of SFR 210 each, thus suggesting a current market value for this cutting-edge enterprise of SFR 10.500.000 - come back and watch here the evolution of these figures!

7.  Pillory - how to make good money with bad debts, investor protection

Swiss Investors Protection Association
box 2580  -  1211 Geneva 2  -  Switzerland  -  t+f: +4122-7400362
e-mail: swissbit@solami.com   Internet: www.solami.com/gold

INTRODUCTION

Phone tapping and stealthily outsourced Nazi assets (IG Farben) did not bode well for the planned UBS/SBC mega Swiss bank merger.  Drawing on a generation of active investor protection experiences, we still hope for the best but expect - and prepare - for the worst, i.e. a complete fusion flop.  That's independent of the fate of the Global Agreement on compensations for holocaust victims and their families (see our related amicus curiæ).   And independent of whether or not the currently biggest Swiss bank will be in the vanguard of protecting Swiss taxpayers from foreign fiscal aggressions facilitated by - of all places - the OECD and its anti-enterpreneurial bodies.  Not least the on-going saga of the vainly fought-for special audit of UBS illustrates also both the underlying reasons for the rise and the fall of the centuries-old and enviously successful Swiss banking culture.

We have arrived at this conclusion through many seemingly unrelated events, e.g. Interhandel, Rees-Bericht, Interfipol, Haile Selassie, Reza Palehvi, Ferdinand Marcos, Santa Fe, RJR Nabisco, Sasea, Rinderknecht, etc.   Sadly, some of these aberrations are seen to be linked to a few but influential Swiss bankers and their myopically self-serving - and now badly back-firing - neglect of fundamental principles and promotion of lex americana universalis.

Interestingly, that also points to possible remedies in harmony with the fundamentals.  Meanwhile, we open for business the Pillory, the Netizen's Debt Exchange.  Thus claimants - not only holocaust victims - might effectively turn the table on their solvent debtors, whatever their names, be they big or small, including the successors to Czarist Russia or to Nazi Germany's IG Farben assets abroad.

    In the course of over 20 years of service to clients of Swiss financial institutions, SIPA, the Swiss Investors Protection Association (Association Suisse de Défense des Investisseurs ASDI) has had the opportunity to look inside a sphynx - Switzerland's banking establishment.  We were thus able also to appreciate the roots, values and principles which, over centuries, have made private Swiss banking the extraordinary success story it is.  This also sharpened our senses for developments which are not in harmony with the fundamentals of reliable, effective and timely client protection and other indispensable ingredients of successful banking.  Thus, we have come to be in the vanguard of corresponding battles on the legal, fiscal and political front both inside and outside of Switzerland.

    As is not unusual when you have the luxury and honor to represent individuals and defend their particular interests, other interests, sometimes claimed or declared to be "bigger" or more legitimate, stand in your way.  Of course, our association's own terms of reference have made it incumbant upon its representatives to never loose sight of, and in fact to always seek to also safeguard and promote Switzerland's and its financial community's wider interests at stake.  Nevertheless, in many of our efforts, we have not really seen eye-to-eye with some of the bigger names in Switzerland's financial and fiduciary community.  We have in vain looked out for them in the long-coming conflict with lex americana universalis - even when the Swiss Government, for once and with a widely-appreciated amicus curiae intervention of its own, saw fit to take a principled stand in the precedent-setting Aerospatiale case were the U.S. Supreme Court saw its ruling almost universally criticized.  And in order not to increase, or to limit the damages caused by some of these undelicate colleagues, we have more and more found reason to either remain silent, or to support appropriate counter-measures.

    With the wider involved interests foremost in mind, we have, however, left no doubt that some of these "peanut gnomes" and their apparatchick allies in Berne and elsewhere "deserve to be shaken down and out".  Having - over the past some 20 years - engineered and effectuated the decline of the Swiss banking culture - inluding Swiss laws & practices - to the level of foreign bureaucrats' needs, bank clients are more than ever well advised if they follow their own nose and, as a rule, keep away from the big names.  Of course, that is no guarantee against bad experiences either.  But it is likely to help in an environment which - sometime despite of your banker - has been left to deteriorate under influences not favorable to the individual client.  This is because, in practice, the Swiss legal system evolved in a way which - as the damaged client sees it - looks pretty much rigged against him (both the Marcos family and the Philippine government could tell you something along that line, if they wouldn't be afraid of the gag rules which, over the past ten years of unnecessary and sterile court fights, prevented them from going public with their complaints).

     Thus, when the story of the holocaust victim families and their allegedly looted Swiss bank deposits resurfaced in early 1996, most observers weren't impressed. Expecting the matter to dissipate again in the sand in the course of the normalminimum five-year secretive proceedings with the victims once again taken for a ride, SIPA blew the whistle and even worked out a genuine alternative solution, providing for a prompt global one billion dollar settlement. Intriguingly, that was turned down by the very people who allegedly spoke for the victim families (which raises the spectre of them being led to pursue third parties' hidden agendas).  At any rate, the subsequent developments still proved one important thing: the legal path is neither the only nor the most effective road to a satisfactory claim settlement - at least not in cases involving the big Swiss banks.

     The question thus arose:what generally applicable lesson can be drawn from this experience -for you and other claimants (including some holocaust victims) and other holders of bad debts?  The answer is SIPA's debt exchange, which starts with the following, continuously updated list.  Except for the B Claims growing out from allegedly non-settled trusteeship functions with varying degrees of political implications (e.g. the stealthily outsourced, long-hidden and now re-surfacing foreign IG Farben assets apparently controlled by some Mideastern sources), this list is meant to be illustrative of the kind of debt claims which might thus find an inexpensive and prompt out-of-court settlement:
 

NETIZEN DEBT EXCHANGE, list of alleged debtors:

A    Claims for services/goods/documents received and/or for rights harmfully exercised by

IRAQI GOVERNMENT   (damages, 1601 days as involontary "Government guest")
US$ 22'500'000  overdue earmarked for helping to realize the Mosul Vilayet project

KUWAITI GOVERNMENT   (invasion, assistance re: IPU Punta-del-Este Conference, lobbying)
US$ 1'000'000  overdue earmarked for promoting decency in politics and business

RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT/
FRENCH GOVERNMENT       (Russian bonds from <1917, compensation for nationalizations, etc.)
US$ 400'000'000 + overdueinspired by the needs of both society and the market as well as by the principles of pacta sunt servanda and due compensation of victims (Holocaust and others)

Jean-Jacques LEU, Lausanne   (damages, arbitrational malpractice)
SFR 1'000'000  overdue bookmarked for promoting the integrity of the Swiss Supreme Court

MABANAFT AG, Zollikon   (nuclear micro-explosion reactor development, Nuclear AG, lobbying)
SFR 500'000  overdue earmarked for advanced energy systems research

NESTLÉ SA, Vevey   (WHO baby food codex, lobbying)
SFR 370'000  overdue earmarked for the development of a formula for breast-feeding mothers

SASEA SA i.l., Geneva   (overbilling by bancruptcy administration, ATAG Ernst & Young)
SFR 2'700'000  overdue bookmarked for improvements of the Swiss bancruptcy law

STOCK EXCHANGE, Geneva   (regio genevensis planning)
SFR 180'000  overdue earmarked for paying arrears incurred in this work

SULZER AG, Winterthur   (NPT, nuclear export codex, lobbying)
SFR 1'200'000  overdue earmarked for promoting fairness and decency in Swiss business

UBS AG (formerly Swiss Bank Corporation, Basel)    (CH/F double taxation agreement, bond holder protection: LBO RJR Nabisco)
SFR 3'500'000  overdue    earmarked for fight against lex americana, phone tapping, bank secrecy violations, etc.

SWISS GOVERNMENT   (damages, Mohammed Sidik Mahmoud)
SFR 5'000'000  overdue earmarked for the thus looted Assyrian, Kurdish & Turkoman landowners

UBS, Geneva   (alleged *****hotel mortgage mishandling)
SFR 100'000'000   overdue earmarked for damage relief and for special audit of UBS

UBS, Zurich   (change of signature card; damaged clients of UBS Nyon, Geneva, Sion, Zurich, etc.)
SFR 3'500'000  overdue earmarked for damaged bank clients

UNITED NATIONS   (damages, Mohammed Sidik Mahmoud)
US$ 100'000  overdue earmarked for improved access to the League of Nations Archives

WINTERTHUR INSURANCE, Winterthur  (long-term damages from car-accident)
SFR 10'000'000  overdue     earmarked also for promoting francophonie
 

UBS, Zurich   (restitution to rightful claimants of assets placed under Swiss protection before end of WW2, Eidgenössische Bank, Interhandel, etc.)
SFR 7'000'000'000 +  earmarked for damaged bank clients, Swiss Solidarity Foundation

     This has given rise to much further debate - which may be short-circuited in favor of the victims and the market by way of giving all claimants an opportunity to register and/or directly market their claims by e-mail to either swissbit@solami.com  or dettes.russes@solami.com   For one thing, the figures don't add up to even a shadow of the some US$ 50 billion - at current rates - which were invested notably in Russian railways and which, for the French investors at the time, were thus evaporated in the Siberian steppe.  For another, these were mostly private investors of French and other nationalities.  The deal worked out secretly is the result of unrelenting pressure from the bond holders and their association's president who managed to keep French public opinion, parliamentarians and banks unswervingly on their side.  Still, and to the surprise of almost all observers, the deal stealthily put into effect seems to mix state obligations with private ones and, on top of it, to discriminate against non-French nationals.  The justification and legal basis of all this is doubtful at best.

     On closer analysis, the Russian negotiators, while appearing to cave in to French pressure, seem to have won this one - some even say they clobbered their French counterparts.  Indeed, some of France's ENArchs (the often aloft wizards who graduated from France's Temple of Administration) are seen to have managed to totally relieve Russia of a monster debt for a plate of lentils - comparatively speaking. In doing so, they have now caused the French victims of Bolshevik recklessness to be additionally spoliated by having the French State settling its debts on the back of these very victims.  What may have escaped these ivory tower negotiators is that, not least, the Holocaust debate has revived and significantly sharpened the citizen's perception of and sensitivity for fundamental principles.  And that a new cross-European alliance has come to life between the original victims of 70 years of Soviet expropriations and those who - for tapestry, nostalgia or investment purposes - had bought these "non-valeurs" privately or at the Bourse de Paris where they remained quoted until 1996, purportedly in deferrence to the fundamental principles at stake.

     Growingly, these interested parties may then appreciate a few essential facts.  Firstly, that their governments found it possible and indicated to resort to the compensation of reciprocal claims - as successfully practised since time immemorial.  Secondly, that as a result of this, they may thus no longer have only the Russian Government as their legal debtor.  And thirdly, that they may thus finally get even.  Either directly by themselves claiming compensation with their dues (e.g. taxes) to the government.  Or indirectly, i.e. by way of our debt exchange which provides for their claim to be sold eventually - at a discount, of course - to an investor who either is capable and willing to wait for the results of the official procedure, or who is prepared to effectuate compensation himself.

     The above Russian bond case illustrates what this electronic debt exchange essentially is all about.  Following are some related observations, considerations and explanations.  Eventually, this exchange is expected to evolve into what President Clinton publicly called for, i.e. a genuinely tax- and customs-free virtual market place for countless real goods and services.  The above list is an example, reflecting real services, real claims and "misunderstandings".  Private and public debts are, of course, nothing new on the market.  If they haven't fallen due yet, various factors, more or less reliably, allow the investor to assess the chances of his money to flow back at the prescribed date - thus driving e.g. bond prices up and down. The more solvent the private or public debtor, the smaller the risk and the commission/discount for early cashing.  Similarly, in the case of uncontested and not-yet-due bills on solvent debtors, factoring agents buy them up at a relatively small discount.

     Not so in the case of junk bonds.  And not so in the case of contested bills -even if they concern debtors who are not known to have liquidity problems.Characteristically, junk bonds entail higher risks and correspondingly higher yields/discounts.  And in the case of contested bills, the market players - if any can be found at all -regularly talk about an effective write off, offering perhaps a 1 to 5% consolation price.This imbalance could be rightened somewhat - at least when the debtor is solvent - with the help of what may be called a junk debt exchange.

This is how it could work - not least for you:

     Assume you owe a payment to a given creditor X.
Before you pay X, you routinely check at the SIPA debt exchange whether X is listed as allegedly owing an overdue amount of money to someone. You found X on the SIPA debt list, you click on the entry mentioning X and - thanks to the net - you are in direct contact with that claimant, which we may call Y. If you have convinced yourself that Y's claim merits better treatment, you negotiate with Y - directly over the net or with our assistance - in order to buy his claim against your creditor X, or a suitable fraction of that claim, at a price you and Y can live with (perhaps 20, 50 or 80%, depending on the circumstances and the negotiating skills brought to bear).
Thereupon you merely notify X, preferably (but not indispensibly) before your debt falls due, that with regard to your debt to X you effectuate payment by compensation with the title you acquired for receiving payment on the debt of X to Y.With that, your debt is legally off your shoulder, regardless of whether X accepted or contested his debt to Y, and regardless of what discount you agreed with Y (1).

     This is but one scenario why it may be in the interest of both debtor and creditorto utilize the services of an effective impartial debt exchange (e.g. for an indirect measurement of a debtor's market standing, or for buying back one's own debt at a discount). Such a market place for private and public debts is herewith opened for business. It works in both directions and - initially at least - it is free of any commissions and fees (2).  It will be automated as soon as we will have resolved some technical problems.If you have a documented, uncontested or contested but bona fide money claim for goods or services received or rights exercised harmfullyby any private person, company or public institution in or outside of Switzerland,you can now submit this claim for registration on this provisional SIPA site,which is hosted by the Global Ivory Tower, by e-mailing to:  swissbit@solami.com

-    your own return e-mail address,
-    name & address of person/company/institution to be put on pillory,
-    a nutshell description (max. 7 words) of the subject of the claim
     (optionally: a short bookmark or earmark note),
-    the amount due (in US$ or Swiss francs),
-    whether it is overdue or not, and
-    your preference for maintaining this exchange through ads or registration fees.

With your application, you accept the conditions of registration, as detailed on this site. You thereby declare on your honor as a netizen
(a) that you own and can freely dispose of the submitted bona fide claim or parts thereof and
(b) that you will sell only what is yours and are prepared to negotiate a discount.

Your claim will then be published in the SIPA debt list within approx. 14 days, with the manager of the debt exchange reserving the right to refuse publication of a claim or to withdraw a claim from the list without giving any reason or entering into related communications.During the test period only notoriously solvent persons, companies and institutions will be listed, the UN representing a borderline case. In the event, the manager, by way of associated specialists, avails his good offices and related services, e.g. if professional assistance is needed for working out a fair discount, for arbitrating a case, or for obtaining a prompt and mutually satisfactory out-of-court settlement.

NOTES

(1)    It may well be that X has had good reasons for not paying.  But then again: maybe not, and X just tried his luck. Since claimant Y may no longer have the time or be able to afford the lawyer and court costs, no judge is examining the merits of the case and, in the event, tell X to pay up.Decency - regrettably an increasingly rare bird - aside, why should X (a company or such immunity-covered persons as ambassadors, federal judges or other high "public servants") miss the given opportunity to save a few bucks - in the given case on the back of a goods and services supplier Y who usually happens to have a relatively shorter breath? Because someone, Z, may owe X a money debt which Z may be interested to settle at a discount. Because Z may see himself as being in a more favorable position than Y to get Y's claim honored by X. And because Z may have aquired from Y, at a discount, said claim which Z now can legally deduct from Z's debt and payment to X.All this is legally feasible because under Swiss law, e.g., the right to effectuate payment by compensationeven for non-admitted counter debts (articles 120 & 422 CO) would turn the table on X.  For if X didn't agree with Z's deduction, X would have to take the legal initiative at his own risks and expense, and he would not have a legal remedy to get his claim against Z recognized and enforced - until the competent court would have positively and definitely decided in favor of X.  This, in law and in effect, results for Y in an effective legal transfer of his burden of proofwhich Y thus can unilaterally impose on X - albeit at a cost (i.e. a lesser but prompt payment of his claim against X, reduced by the discount he agreed with Z). All the while, for Z, the discount thus obtained from Y is in effect to cover Z's risk that X may go to court and seek to proof that the claim Z bought from Y isn't due or is otherwise inoperable.

(2)    Although this exchange is inspired by the net philosophy of uninterfered low-cost communications, developing and maintaining this service involves costs which somehow must be defrayed. If you need this service, you probably appreciate our concern for not wanting to promote free-loading practices.  As our investment the registration will be free during the test period; evt. changes will be announced on this site.  We have not made up our mind on which financing method to choose,and we expect those who register their claim for publication to indicate their preference and/or to suggest their own ideas of how to defray these costs.