Given that the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has found what it sees as ground for criminal prosecution, apparently extending to several yet to be named Wall Street executives, what are we to make of the exodus of its Republican members? That they prefer rule by banksters to rule of law?
I must confess I had little hope for the FCIC having any impact. The unduly short time allotted to it, its composition (not enough representation of individuals at the commissioner level with meaningful expertise) and its restrictions on issuing subpoenas (which effectively required sign off from members of both parties) seemed intended to hamstring it. The fact that they’ve gotten this far, and may make more waves with the issuance of their report, which is due out later this week, is an unexpected positive development.
Shahien Narsiripour of the Huffington Post broke this story but juicy details appear thin at this juncture:
The bipartisan panel appointed by Congress to investigate the financial crisis has concluded that several financial industry figures appear to have broken the law and has referred multiple cases to state or federal authorities for potential prosecution….
The sources, who spoke on condition they not be named, declined to identify the people implicated or the names of their institutions. But they characterized the panel’s decision to make referrals to prosecutors as a significant escalation in the government’s response to the financial crisis…The commission’s decision to refer conduct for prosecution underscores the severity of the activities it has uncovered and plans to detail in its widely anticipated final report
The report will include an audio archive of 600 people they interviewed and will be accessible to the public. I was interviewed by three staffers (all pretty senior) and at least two of them had read ECONNED.
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Kudos, Yves, for all your tireless efforts. Clearly you have contributed in a big way. I hope this goes beyond the usual suspects and leads to real prosecutions and deterrence.
They did interview 600 people in addition to the testimony under the hot lights. So my contribution was hardly large, but I of course thought the fact that they found me was a good sign.
“at least two of them had read ECONNED.”
Then, the banksters haven’t got a prayer…MUHAHAHAHAHA! :-)
If only…
Rimshot.
I saw this today on HP and was hoping NC would pick it up. Here’s to further revelations and some of that “Old Testament justice” that Mr. Geithner seems to think we all would like to see.
He truly has no idea HOW MUCH we’d love to see it.
Wake me when Hank Paulson is in jail.
Myself, but I am showing my age, would like to see the likes of Greenspan in jail. But then I want to see Bush and Cheney prosecuted for war crimes as well……I guess I am just not forward thinking enough.
Spot on friend. Should Timmah be biting his nails?
Why? Wouldn’t you like to watch his trial, conviction & sentencing televised live?
…as well as his public execution by firing squad after conviction for treason against the United States of America and its Constitution?
Whom are we kidding? Obama, with full cooperation of Holder, will let murderers go if they work for TBTF banks.
But if they don’t work for TBTF banks? Well then it’s “up against the wall mother fucker!”
BP and Goldman Sachs operate with impunity in a regulation-free world. But if you happen to be a small businessman, the regulators mutate into tyrants, ruthlessly and unforgivingly enforcing the most trivial and petty of legalisms. In this labyrinthine world of federal rules and regulations, it’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr: Hyde.
So while the BPs and Goldman Sachs of the world get to deal with Dr. Jekyll, the rest of us get stuck with Mr. Hyde.
Given the track record of this administration, I’d bet a month of Sundays that what will happen is that they will drag in a handful of underlings. They will get to see the ugly face of Mr. Hyde, the face of the government that most of us see every day. But the chances of the corporate chieftains meeting Mr. Hyde, unless it’s to give him his orders, is nonexistent with the current administration.
But if they don’t work for TBTF banks? Well then it’s “up against the wall mother fu-ker!”
BP and Goldman Sachs operate with impunity in a regulation-free world. But if you happen to be a small businessman, the regulators mutate into tyrants, ruthlessly and unforgivingly enforcing the most trivial and petty of legalisms. In this labyrinthine world of federal rules and regulations, it’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr: Hyde.
So while the BPs and Goldman Sachs of the world get to deal with Dr. Jekyll, the rest of us get stuck with Mr. Hyde.
Given the track record of this administration, I’d bet a month of Sundays that what will happen is that they will drag in a handful of underlings. They will get to see the ugly face of Mr. Hyde, the face of the government that most of us see every day. But the chances of the corporate chieftains meeting Mr. Hyde, unless it’s to give him his orders, is nonexistent with the current administration.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Right now all the power appears to be in the banks’ hands.
Well, I wonder if this quote got Jimmy Cayne on the list?
=========================
Asked about Geithner’s comments and his decision regarding opening the discount window to Wall Street after Bear had been sold for $2 a share and not earlier, Jimmy Cayne became spitting angry.
“The audacity of that p—k in front of the American people announcing he was deciding whether or not a firm of this stature and this whatever was good enough to get a loan,” he said. “Like he was the determining factor, and it’s like a flea on his back, floating down underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, getting a h–d-on, saying, ‘Raise the bridge.’ This guy thinks he’s got a big d–k. He’s got nothing, except maybe a boyfriend. I’m not a good enemy. I’m a very bad enemy. But certain things really—that bothered me plenty. It’s just that for some clerk to make a decision based on what, your own personal feeling about whether or not they’re a good credit? Who the f–k asked you? You’re not an elected officer. You’re a clerk. Believe me, you’re a clerk. I want to open up on this f—-r, that’s all I can tell you.”
Jimmy Cayne referring to Geithner: “….You’re a clerk. Believe me, you’re a clerk. I want to open up on this f—-r, that’s all I can tell you…”
Good quote, as this illustrates how the banksters think and how they probably speak to each other in private (just that this one slipped out)
If the banksters see Geithner as a clerk, working for them, then imagine the contempt they must have for the American public.
And so why does Charlie Rose (just to give one example) keep inviting people like John Mack, ex-CEO of Morgan Stanley, onto his program, but not people like Bill Black or Janet Tavaloki?
(A rhetorical question, as I had to stop watching Charlie Rose a long time ago, but occasionally check in just to see who the guests are.)
“And so why does Charlie Rose (just to give one example) keep inviting people like John Mack, ex-CEO of Morgan Stanley, onto his program, but not people like Bill Black or Janet Tavaloki?”
Thanks for that opening: I suspect it might be because Rose is a long-time member of Davy Rockefeller’s Trilateral Commission.
http://www.trilateral.org/download/file/2010-07-27-NA_Membership.pdf
As you know, no doubt, good citizen, David Rockefeller has been behind every major war financing, NAFTA deal and NAFTA-like deals, etc., and is simply another vile Rockefeller cretinous offspring (created Council of the Americas, which lobbied for passage of NAFTA, etc.).
The Rockefeller family, beginning with John D. Rockefeller’s nifty creation of all those trusts, foundations and holding companies to hide the wealth and ownership of their financial empire, has successfully — almost — removed themselves from the limelight and the Forbes’ list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFWzDFjBKUw&feature=player_embedded#!
Posted on YouTube: January 17, 2011
By YouTube Member: NWNoticias
And lest anyone forget, it was Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank which bank that bear run on Bear Stearns — but not before Jimmy Cayne was reputed to have moved somewhere between $1 trillion or more credit derivatives offshore….set to payout on the demise of Bear Stearns.
‘Nuff said….. (Excepting for…Long Live Phil Angelides!)
Your wish may come true, if this article posted today pans out:
E-mails Suggest Bear Stearns Cheated Clients Out of Billions
Lawsuit alleges the bank took extreme measures to defraud investors, and now JPMorgan may be on the hook
Former Bear Stearns mortgage executives who now run mortgage divisions of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Ally Financial have been accused of cheating and defrauding investors through the mortgage securities they created and sold while at Bear…..Last week a lawsuit filed in 2008 by mortgage insurer Ambac Assurance Corp against Bear Stearns and JPMorgan was unsealed.
…..
According to the lawsuit, the Bear traders would sell toxic mortgage securities to investors and then sell back the bad loans with early payment defaults to the banks that originated them at a discount. The traders would pocket the refund, and would not pass it on to the mortgage trust, which was where it should have gone to be distributed to the investors who owned the bonds. The Marano-led traders also cut the time allowed for early payment defaults, without telling the bond investors. That way, Bear could quickly securitize defective loans, without leaving enough time for investors to do their own due diligence after the bonds were sold and put-back any bad loans to Bear.
…..
Individuals named as defendants included: Jimmy Cayne,……
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/e-mails-suggest-bear-stearns-cheated-clients-out-of-billions/70128/
Your wish may come true:
E-mails Suggest Bear Stearns Cheated Clients Out of Billions
Lawsuit alleges the bank took extreme measures to defraud investors, and now JPMorgan may be on the hook
Former Bear Stearns mortgage executives who now run mortgage divisions of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Ally Financial have been accused of cheating and defrauding investors through the mortgage securities they created and sold while at Bear…..Last week a lawsuit filed in 2008 by mortgage insurer Ambac Assurance Corp against Bear Stearns and JPMorgan was unsealed.
…..
According to the lawsuit, the Bear traders would sell toxic mortgage securities to investors and then sell back the bad loans with early payment defaults to the banks that originated them at a discount. The traders would pocket the refund, and would not pass it on to the mortgage trust, which was where it should have gone to be distributed to the investors who owned the bonds. The Marano-led traders also cut the time allowed for early payment defaults, without telling the bond investors. That way, Bear could quickly securitize defective loans, without leaving enough time for investors to do their own due diligence after the bonds were sold and put-back any bad loans to Bear.
…..
Individuals named as defendants included: Jimmy Cayne,……
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/e-mails-suggest-bear-stearns-cheated-clients-out-of-billions/70128/
Bankers? Criminal prosecutions?
In the immortal words of Fred Sanford: IT’S THE BIG ONE!
The only widespread criminal enterprise the current enablers have gone after are the mafia. Probably only because they were light on protection payments donations this election cycle.
Banksters in orange jumpsuits doing the perp walk.
That’s the only thing that will restore “confidence.”
Jimmy Cayne got it right. But neither he nor anyone else at the time of his remarks realized how far Timmy and the banker gangsters had infiltrated government and corrupted the legal system.
They’re going to need some place nice and safe to live. There are a couple of islands for sale here in Dubai.
Please see my earlier remark on Jimmy Cayne — also, the evil ones have been converging on Dubai for quite some time now…..
Please go back to the old website form. this “new coke” ain’t working and I’m less likely to visit now.
So…is it really Blankfein of Goldman Sachs doing the Lord’s work? Or is it really Wikileaks?
You be the judge:
“WikiLeaks servers housed underground in Stockholm may be used to help warm up a local church, according to a proposal from the head internet service provider Bahnhof.”
http://www.thelocal.se/31630/20110125/
They need prosocuted for R.I.C.O. violations. Chase and fifth third bank are stealing from the American public daily.The goverment should arrest their presidents for racketeering.