Good morning 99percenters!
A couple of news items and some B3 goodness from the great Jimmy Smith

'Biggest Banking Leak in History' Details Nefarious Tactics of Global Tax-Dodgers
Whether revelations result in crackdown on shadow banking system and tax avoidance by the wealthy and by multinational companies remains to be seen

A global investigation based on leaked banking documents has opened a crack of sunlight into the exclusive and highly-secretive world of Swiss banking and the manner in which the world's criminal elite hide their vast wealth, launder their profits, and avoid tax payments from governments around the globe.

Published by a consortium of international media outlets on Sunday, the trove of leaked banking documents—considered to be the largest of its kind in history—reveals how a Swiss division of the U.K.-based HSBC bank colluded with clients from around the globe to shield billions of dollars in assets as a way to maintain secrecy and avoid taxes in the clients' home countries

As the Guardian reports:

The HSBC files, which cover the period 2005-2007, amount to the biggest banking leak in history, shedding light on some 30,000 accounts holding almost $120bn (£78bn) of assets.

The revelations will amplify calls for crackdowns on offshore tax havens and stoke political arguments in the US, Britain and elsewhere in Europe where exchequers are seen to be fighting a losing battle against fleet-footed and wealthy individuals in the globalised world.

Le Pen says Washington attempting to start ‘war in Europe’

The leader of France’s rightwing Front National (FN), Marine Le Pen, has called Brussels “American lackeys” over the EU's Ukraine policy. She further accused Washington of attempting to start a “war in Europe” and expand NATO towards Russia’s borders.

"European capitals do not have the wisdom to refuse to be dependent on US positions on Ukraine," Le Pen told French journalists on Sunday.

"Regarding Ukraine, we behave like American lackeys," she said, before warning that “the aim of the Americans is to start a war in Europe to push NATO to the Russian border."

She went on to accuse European leaders of turning a blind eye to the Ukrainian government’s “bombing of civilians,” adding that both those in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine believed the country should be federalized.

Le Pen has regularly criticized the EU for its policy on Ukraine and its alleged lack of independence from Washington.

Moscow & Cairo to drop USD, use national currencies in bilateral trade – Putin

Russia and Egypt might soon exclude the US dollar and use their national currencies in the settlement of accounts in bilateral trade, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview to Egyptian media ahead of his Monday visit to the country.

The issue of abandoning the dollar in trade is “being actively discussed,” Putin told Al-Ahram daily newspaper ahead of his two-day trip to Egypt. The Russian president was invited for a bilateral meeting by his Egyptian counterpart Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.

“This measure will open up new prospects for trade and investment cooperation between our countries, reduce its dependence on the current trends in the world markets,” Putin said.

“I should note that we already use national currencies for trade with a number of the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] states, and China. This practice proves its worth; we are ready to adopt it in our relations with Egypt as well. This issue is being discussed in substance by relevant agencies of both countries.”

Egypt is a long-time and trusted partner of Russia and the relationship between the two countries has been rapidly developing, the Russian president said.