1.A mere two weeks since former JPMorgan banker, Kenneth Bellando jumped to his death, Bloomberg reports that
the former CEO of Dutch Bank ABN Amro (and his wife and daughter) were found dead at their home after a possible “family tragedy.”
This expands the dismal list of senior financial services executive
deaths to 12 in the last few months. The 57-year-old Jan Peter
Schmittmann, was reportedly discovered by his other daughter when she
arrived home that morning. Police declined to comment on the cirumstances of his (and his wife and daughter’s) death.
2. Over the weekend the world was gripped by the drama surrounding the mysterious murder-homicide of
the former CEO of Dutch bank ABN Amro and members of his family, and
whether there is more foul play than meets the eye. However, that is
nothing compared to what just happened in the tiny, and all too quiet
Principality of Lichtenstein, where moments ago the CEO of local
financial institution Bank Frick & Co. AG, Juergen Frick, was shot dead in the underground garage of the bank located in the city of
Balzers.
I don’t even have any theories at this point. It’s a moment of High Weirdness as the various deaths are more random and outlandish than one would expect to find in a thriller. But regardless of what is actually taking place, it does seem readily apparent that we are not dealing with a normal situation in the financial world here.
Even the most inventive fiction writer would struggle to fit the demise of European bankers, a CIA agent, and Peaches Geldof all into the same novel.