Would the criminal prosecution of bank CEOs be good for the real estate market?
- Yes (91%, 145 Votes)
- No (9%, 15 Votes)
Total Voters: 160
In the world of high finance, it looks like hell has frozen over. Three British nationals working in the UK were recently arrested following an investigation into their involvement in the Libor scandal.
The London interbank offered rate (Libor) is used primarily as the interest rate banks charge one another for loans. Because interbank lending is the foundation for the cost of lending to consumers, Libor is also used as a benchmark for a multitude of financial dealings, including the adjustable rate mortgage (ARM).
Barclays was fined $435 million this July for its involvement in the scandal. As many as 16 other banks, including the big boys in America, remain under scrutiny.
The three arrests this week mark the first criminal action to be taken against individuals involved in the Libor debacle.
Related article:
Libor and you — a match made in . . .
first tuesday insight
Journalist Matt Taibbi calls it griftopia: a fantastical land where bankers and financiers perpetrate heinous crimes, grifting innocents out of their homes, and walk away with total impunity.
Some have said the reason why the titans of finance have not been held personally liable is a matter of market stability. Just as the banks are too big to fail, the individual bankers are too big to jail.
Another possible reason for the failure to prosecute has to do with corporate personhood. Modern corporate law was designed to protect the assets of individual owners of corporations. The design was thought to encourage business development and risk-taking in our society.
Unfortunately, asset protection has turned into cover-your-ass protection — in an effort to encourage risk taking, the law has allowed those risks to become criminal without holding any one person accountable.
Related article:
U.S. sues BofA for reckless lending scheme
That is, it seems, until now? We are dubious for two reasons: the identities of those arrested for their connection to the Libor scandal have been suppressed. In other words, the powers that be are not making an example of anyone here. Second, the arrests occurred under the jurisdiction of the UK authorities.
We’ll believe the tides are turning in the direction of American financial justice when Brian Moynihan or Jamie Dimon are hauled off to the stocks. The deterrent factor is real; criminal prosecution of bad actors is good for the markets. Some have suggested bringing back the guillotine . . .
Re: UK authorities arrest 3 in Libor rate manipulation investigation
The reason the banking elite have not been led to the guillotine yet is because their power elite cronies are STILL in charge on too many other levels. There are interconnections that run very deep, and currently the virtual army of special investigators commissioned by the current administration to ferret them out is hard at work diving into the very dark rabbit hole.
The convoluted mess purposely created by the scheming power elite– like the derivatives market for example–takes a long time to unravel as they cover their tracks well.
What they finally find will shock the world, as most all persons, especially in mind-numbed America, have not the slightest clue as to who really controls their economy, the financial world, and their very lives.
There is a deeply entrenched insiders’ club of elite and powerful families that stands in the shadows behind the politicians, corporations, and banks. That power elite has determined the fate of whole nations, profits from every war, and feeds, like a parasite, upon the blood of the common man.
Its power and influence go back, not decades, but centuries or millenia. But, it’s time is growing short. You will witness increasingly desperate and radical acts by that power elite to hold on to their clandestine sovereignty. Many of the extremely dramatic events you will see in your upcoming news broadcasts will be reflective of the secret machinations of that power elite behind the scenes.
They will cause disruption for a time, perhaps on a massive scale—-it remains to be seen. But, eventually, they will be rooted out and humanity will then be free to express itself in POSITIVE directions instead of wasting trillions on senseless wars, weapons, and corruption.
Stay tuned. The great battle has begun.
I was pleased to read the replies. I found it heartening to know others are also fed up with flagrant abuses of power and greed. As my instructor who gave the class on ethics for realtors said, “I have never seen as much unethical behavior as I’ve seen today.” And, that’s coming from a man who has been in the business over 20 years. But, of course, we are talking about outright crime in this case.
The author’s statement, “Just as the banks are too big to fail, the individual bankers are too big to jail”, turns my stomach. Statements like that can only come from the perpetrators. These crimes need not go unpunished.
I am not well read about this issue, but weren’t there also allegations of money laundrying. If so, then bringing down the big guys would probably reveal even bigger guys (politicians) behind the crime. I don’t think anyone should get away with any crime.
Greg
Unfortunately, people can not grasp how totally corrupt is the entire judiciary. Just search “judicial corruption” and you can read (until your eyes fall out) stories of corruption in EVERY jurisdiction which is so blatant and outrageous that it is literally unbelievable (but true nonetheless). This is the result of being granted virtually total IMMUNITY by the Eleventh Amendment to the US Constitution and its subsequent constant expansion by the judiciary. For example, in the last 200 years, something like a total of SEVEN federal judges have been removed from the bench (not JAILED, just removed).
Since none of the judiciary can be held accountable for their “official” acts, members of the ruling class and their selected minions (politicians, military, law enforcement etc.) can virtually ALWAYS escape punishment regardless of how well caught they are. At worst, a couple will be noisily “prosecuted” and “locked up” in facilities more pleasant than most peoples’ homes until the public gets distracted by other horrors and then they get quietly let go.
Unless judges can be held accountable for their actions, none of the ruling class have anything to fear and the entire “administration of justice” INDUSTRY can only be expected to continue expanding its actual function of controlling the “citizens”.
I won’t answer the survey question, because I believe you should be asking a simpler question:
“Would the criminal prosecution of bank CEOs be good for law-abiding US Citizens?”
To which I would answer a resounding “yes”. The idea that outrageous criminal behavior on a grand scale should be tolerated because prosecutions may be bad for the RE market (or the “too big to fail” banks) is beyond disgusting.
The best thing that can happen to our economy is showing the world….our rules & laws apply equally to all.
Cut pay on all Public Employess-Utilities & Banks to minimum 45% of current pay and ” NO ” retirement and
Only those who want to serve will be there ( Max 1 Term ) 5yrs.,
Utilities 40/40 plan plan 40 yrs., work with all employees and Officers and Board of Directors limited to
80% of average users’ income and retirement – Same with Police -Fireman – & Teachers (Who at present
have created a Generation of Semi-Retards
I have had enough. Everywhere I turn in life there are people in high places, the government, banks,etc, all places of importance to the growth and prosperity of our nation who are greedy, selfish and only concerned about themselves. I know that we cannot spend our lives turning into vigilantes, but when they are discovered, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and replaced until we get it right. There are smart, educated people in the world who would surely be able to take their place, do a good job for the country, as well as themselves.
Sometime, somehow the process of being ethical, honest, and concerned for the benefit of our country and all its people need to be restored. I guess it will have to be one step at a time. Let’s start now!
Bonnie Vogel