Elizabeth Warren vs Jamie Dimon

[Capt. Obvious]

In early 2013, JPMorgan's outspoken chief Jamie Dimon trolled Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) when he told her to "hit" him with a fine because his bank could "afford it."

....

When the conversation turned to financial regulation and Dimon began complaining about all the burdensome rules his bank had to follow, I finally interrupted. I was polite, but definite. No, I didn’t think the biggest banks were overregulated. In fact, I couldn’t believe he was complaining about regulatory constraints less than a year after his bank had lost billions in the infamous London Whale high-risk trading episode. I said I thought the banks were still taking on too much risk and that they seemed to believe the taxpayers would bail them out -- again -- if something went wrong.

Our exchange heated up quickly. By the time we got to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, we weren’t quite shouting, but we were definitely raising our voices. At this point -- early in 2013 -- Rich Cordray was still serving as director of the consumer agency under a recess appointment; he hadn’t yet been confirmed by the Senate, which meant that the agency was vulnerable to legal challenges over its work. Dimon told me what he thought it would take to get Congress to confirm a director, terms that included gutting the agency’s power to regulate banks like his. By this point I was furious. Dodd-Frank had created default provisions that would automatically go into effect if there was no confirmed director, and his bank was almost certainly not in compliance with the those rules. I told him that if that happened, “I think you guys are breaking the law.”

Suddenly Dimon got quiet. He leaned back and slowly smiled. “So hit me with a fine. We can afford it.”

....

The tone inside JPMorgan seems to have changed. JPMorgan recently acknowledged that it can't afford to screw up anymore. Last year, higher capital requirements, legal costs, and low revenue weighed on the bank's profits.

Bottom line: Be careful what you wish for.

Business Insider

[Stellar]

1. K&R

O/T Isn't Senator Warren supposed to be on the Rachel Maddow show tonight?

[RiverLover]

2. "Hit me with a fine" = "We can break the law & harm people, and just use the profits from that to

pay for your meaningless fine."

Quite the racket.

Run, Liz, Run!!!!!!!!

[gort]

3. And Dimon can write off the fine apparently.

Thom Hartmann just mentioned on the radio today that banksters like Dimon can write off any fines from their taxes. Disgusting if that's true.

[RiverLover]

5. Great. And they can scam taxpayers & the US to boot.

Kind of like BP being able to write-off clean up costs from the Gulf spill.

Seriously, we need to GET $$$ OUT of POLITICS.

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. Did JPMorgan Try to Bribe Dem Power-Brokers? (Depends What Your Definition of 'Bribe' Is)

Did JPMorgan Try to Bribe Dem Power-Brokers? (Depends What Your Definition of 'Bribe' Is)

They've got a problem with Elizabeth Warren. And they want party leaders to do something about it.



A widely published Reuters story reported that four major U.S. banks have threatened to withhold expected campaign contributions from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee unless “Democrats, including Warren and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown ... soften their party's tone toward Wall Street.”

But the article specifically notes: “JPMorgan representatives have met Democratic Party officials to emphasize the connection between its annual contribution and the need for a friendlier attitude toward the banks, a source familiar with JPMorgan's donations said. In past years, the bank has given its donation in one lump sum but this year has so far donated only a third of the amount, the source said.”

A person familiar with JPMorgan's donations—who may or may not be a JPMorgan representative—told a Reuters reporter that JPM told party officials: Be more friendly to banks if you want us to give you the remaining two-thirds of the contributions you were expecting from us.

Even shorter: We are offering you a specific sum of money for specific action—which may simply amount to mouth-shutting and smiling—from members of the Senate.

18 U.S.C. § 201 is extremely clear on the legal definition of bribery:

(b Whoever—

(1) directly or indirectly, corruptly gives, offers or promises anything of value to any public official or person who has been selected to be a public official, or offers or promises any public official or any person who has been selected to be a public official to give anything of value to any other person or entity, with intent—

(A) to influence any official act;

Specifically an official act includes:

(3) the term “official act” means any decision or action on any question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy, which may at any time be pending, or which may by law be brought before any public official, in such official’s official capacity, or in such official’s place of trust or profit.

Will JPMorgan face any investigation, let alone penalty, for their attempted bribe?


http://prospect.org/article/did-jpmorgan-try-bribe-dem-power-brokers-depends-what-your-definition-bribe



http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026441274