Why No Prison for Banksters Who Caused Financial Crisis…Yet?

[The Straight Story]

Why No Prison for Banksters Who Caused Financial Crisis…Yet?

Following the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s, more than a thousand bank officials faced prosecution, with 800 of them winding up in jail for their financial misdeeds that ruined institutions and robbed Americans of their retirement.

Today, the 2008 financial crisis—considered the worst disaster on Wall Street since the 1929 crash—has yet to yield any bank executives going to prison.

A variety of reasons have been cited for why America’s financial titans have avoided criminal court…so far. The FBI scaled back a plan to assign more field agents to investigate mortgage fraud, while the Department of Justice rejected calls to create a task force devoted to mortgage-related investigations. Also, federal regulators, such as those at the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision, failed to compile information that could have helped build criminal cases against banking leaders.

“This is not some evil conspiracy of two guys sitting in a room saying we should let people create crony capitalism and steal with impunity,” William Black, a professor of law at University of Missouri, Kansas City, who worked on the savings and loan prosecutions, told The New York Times. “But their policies have created an exceptional criminogenic environment. There were no criminal referrals from the regulators. No fraud working groups. No national task force. There has been no effective punishment of the elites here.”

http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Why_No_Prison_for_Banksters_Who_Caused_Financial_Crisis__Yet_110415

[Vincardog]

1. IS IT FASCISM YET? Me thinks YES

[FiveGoodMen]

6. I think it is.

(and a special FUCK YOU to everyone who admonished us not to use the word lest we embarrass our side)

[indepat]

12. Fascism is as fascism does: something like if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck,

:patriot:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Because.

[nichomachus]

3. Because Goldman Sachs calls all the shots for the Obama administration

What do I win?

[cutlassmama]

9. ding, ding, ding, we have the winner here.

[BrendaBrick]

4. NYT Gretchen Morgenson on Charlie Rose today

(aired last night and repeated this afternoon) touched on this. Though I didn't see the whole thing, FYI:

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11619#

[EmmettKelly]

5. It just shouldn't be that difficult. Get a judge to swear out

a warrant, have the sheriff or federal marshals knock on the White house door next time the economic advisors are meeting and SHAZAAM, you at least have the ring leaders. Just like those mob roundups in New Jersey, even a little perp walk for the media.

[walldude]

7. Because the only person who it seems is "investigating"

is Matt Tiabbi.. and since he said the dreaded word he has lost all credibility. :rofl: :rofl:

[inna]

14. what was the dreaded word? missed that story completely.

[xchrom]

8. recommend

[Mudoria]

10. Because the banksters own the WH and Congress

[Donald Ian Rankin]

11. Because they didn't break the law?

The cause of the current financial meltdown was not people breaking regulations, it was regulations being far, far too lax - notably, I've heard it said several times that it was the repeal of Glass-Steagal what dunnit.

A great many banks did things which almost certainly *should* have been illegal, but you can't prosecute people for that.

[Nye Bevan]

13. Due process? Requirement that criminal acts be proved beyond a reasonable doubt?

The US justice system intentionally makes it fairly difficult to send people to jail. Unlike, say, that of Russia.