Pwned

Saudi Arabia stockpiled $116.8 billion of U.S. Treasuries as of March, the Treasury Department announced on Monday, ending four decades of keeping the figure secret.

That makes Saudi Arabia the 13th largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, though well behind the $1 trillion-plus owned by China and Japan each.

[...]

Unlike with most other major owners of U.S. debt, the Treasury Department kept Saudi Arabia's precise holdings secret since the 1970s. Saudi's holdings were lumped together with that of other oil exporting nations, including Venezuela and Iraq.

[...]

A Treasury official told CNNMoney the move was made following a review aimed at trying to provide more "comprehensive and transparent" data.

  CNN Money

Or, a big FU to the American public.

Sources told CNN in April that Saudi Arabia threatened to sell off American assets if Congress passed a bill that would allow 9/11 victims to sue foreign governments. A Saudi source at the time told CNNMoney that the kingdom was "serious" about this threat.

[...]

It is possible that Saudi Arabia owns even more U.S. debt than what was revealed on Monday. That's because Saudi Arabia's central bank listed owning $587 billion of foreign reserves as of March. Typically, central banks park the majority of their foreign reserves in U.S. Treasuries. In other words, the numbers don't really add up.

Now, there's a surprise.

The new Treasury report also revealed that the Cayman Islands, a country of less than 60,000 people, owned $265 billion of U.S. Treasuries as of March. That's the third-highest sum in the world and a reflection of the nation's status as a major tax haven. The Cayman Islands does not have a corporate tax, encouraging multinational companies to store vast sums of money there to avoid taxes.

Likewise, Bermuda, another popular tax haven, is sitting on $63 billion of U.S. debt.

A big FU to American taxpayers.

That's a hell of a lot of debt. Better print some trillion dollar bills and pay some of it down.

That's a joke, son.  But only barely.  I have to admit I don't understand finance outside of my own pocket, but I have the sense that national and global finance are essentially a shell game.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.