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Judge criticizes lack of prosecution against Wall Street executives for fraud
(Reuters) - The federal judge who oversaw the recent civil fraud trial against Bank of America Corp criticized the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday for failing to prosecute high-level executives over the financial crisis.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of Manhattan said while companies have been prosecuted for causing the 2007-2009 financial meltdown, Wall Street executives have escaped justice.
"The failure of the government to bring to justice those responsible for such a massive fraud speaks greatly to weaknesses in our prosecutorial system that need to be addressed," Rakoff said.
Rakoff, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, blamed the lack of criminal cases on a shortage of investigatory resources coupled with an over-emphasis on bringing cases against companies rather than individuals.
Rakoff's critique drew a quick reaction from the Justice Department, where a spokeswoman said top prosecutors are "aggressively working" on several ongoing investigations.
"No individual or institution is above the law and we will continue to follow the evidence where it leads to hold the appropriate people and institutions accountable," Adora Andy Jenkins, a department spokeswoman, said in an email.
The Justice Department this year brought two civil fraud cases against Bank of America in connection with the sale of mortgage securities.
In another case, a federal jury in Rakoff's court last month found Bank of America and a mid-level executive liable for fraud over defective loans Countrywide Financial Corp sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Justice Department on Friday asked Rakoff to penalize the company $863.6 million.
The department also has been engaged in talks with JPMorgan Chase & Co about a potential $13 billion settlement resolving mortgage securities probes.
'BRING THE CASES YOU CAN'
Nevertheless, federal authorities remain on the defensive for not successfully bringing criminal cases against top executives at the banks that cobbled together the complex mortgage products at the heart of the crisis.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, asked at another conference in New York on Tuesday why prosecutors had not brought charges against executives at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc after the bank collapsed in 2008, responded: "You bring the cases you can based on the evidence you have."
Rakoff has previously tended to direct his criticisms at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rather than the Justice Department. In 2011, he rejected a $285 million settlement between the SEC and Citigroup Inc for being too lenient.
In his speech Tuesday, Rakoff cited remarks in March by Attorney General Eric Holder, who said he was concerned that prosecuting some banks "will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy
"I have to say," Rakoff said, "to federal judges who take an oath to apply the law equally to the rich and the poor, this excuse, sometimes labeled the 'too big to jail excuse,' is mindboggling in what it says about the department's disregard of fundamental legal principles."
Rakoff said the question of whether banks are "too big to jail" is "entirely irrelevant" to whether individual executives should be charged.
Rakoff also questioned whether the government's own role in the events leading up to the financial crisis was a factor. He cited the federal government's encouragement of lending to people who previously couldn't qualify for mortgages.
"This could give a prudent prosecutor pause in deciding whether to indict a CEO who might, with some justice, claim he was only doing what he fairly believed the government wanted him to do," Rakoff said.
Rakoff saved some of his strongest criticism for the policy of pursuing cases not against executives but against the companies themselves, often through deferred prosecution agreements.
"From a moral standpoint, punishing a company and usually or mostly innocent employees and shareholders for the crime of a few unprosecuted individuals seems contrary to the elementary notions of moral responsibility," Rakoff said.
GoooFnF!
With 4-5 (according to you) of "idiots" like her we are saved .. The free market is now mainly in the hands of 8 large banks backed by the Treasury and the Fed, wich accumulate 58% of U.S. assets, the same 8 favored during the crises, while other small and medium 650 banks were closed. What do you expect for the future without any regulation? Precisely regulate the banking sector wich at this point is semi-monopolistic, is to somehow prevent abuse. Just look at the current news about lawsuits and fines against banks to realize what happened 5 years ago. btw there is no proportion between the huge income they had in the past selling toxic loans and the amount of the fines (even tax deductibles...HA) imo. Warren in particular, is the only politician to come out and make openly a statement in behalf of the GSEs.
Elizabeth Warren attended The George Washington University and the University of Houston. She received a Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law–Newark in 1976, and went on to teach law at several universities before joining Harvard in the early 1990s.
She was previously a Harvard Law School professor specializing in bankruptcy law. Warren is an active consumer protection advocate whose work led to the conception and establishment of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She has written a number of academic and popular works, and is a frequent subject of media interviews regarding the American economy and personal finance. She later served as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under President Barack Obama. In the late 2000s she was recognized by publications such as the National Law Journal and the Time 100 as an increasingly influential public policy figure.
In September 2011, Warren announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate, challenging Republican incumbent Scott Brown. She won the general election on November 6, 2012, to become the first female Senator from Massachusetts. She was assigned to the Senate Special Committee on Aging; the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Warren
Elizabeth Warren Destroys Financial Crisis Myth
"While the crisis was massive and painful -- and its impact continues to weigh on middle-class families to this day -- its underlying cause was fairly clear," she said in remarks to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 100th Annual Convention & Expo in Washington. "The GSEs [government-sponsored enterprises] made significant mistakes -- mistakes that cost taxpayers dearly -- but those mistakes were not the underlying cause of the crisis."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/elizabeth-warren-financial-crisis_n_4174123.html
GLTA
GooooFnF!
Elizabeth Warren is staying on the offensive against Wall Street, as Washington chatters about her as a possible challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Speaking on Tuesday at a financial reform event, the Massachusetts senator called for the Obama administration to set a timeline for ending the "too big to fail" status of the nation's largest banks.
It was just the latest example of the progressive advocacy that has made her a darling of the left.
Warren lauded Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in her remarks Tuesday for suggesting that policymakers consider other options if the "too big to fail" problem isn't adequately addressed by year's end. The aim is to prevent a repeat of 2008, when the struggles of a few giant firms imperiled the entire financial system.
But more than three years after the enactment of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, federal regulators still haven't implemented some key provisions.
"I applaud Secretary Lew for laying out a timeline, and I'd like to see other administration officials and regulators follow suit," Warren said. She bemoaned an ineffective regulatory system "besieged by lobbyists for the big banks."
Warren's remarks come amid speculation this week, stoked by a cover story from The New Republic, about her potential as a presidential candidate for 2016.
The former Harvard professor has said she's not interested in running. But that hasn't stopped speculation that Warren could challenge the presumed Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.
"We should not accept a financial system that allows the biggest banks to emerge from a crisis in record-setting shape while working Americans continue to struggle," she said.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/12/news/economy/elizabeth-warren/index.html?iid=Lead
Elizabeth Warren is staying on the offensive against Wall Street, as Washington chatters about her as a possible challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Speaking on Tuesday at a financial reform event, the Massachusetts senator called for the Obama administration to set a timeline for ending the "too big to fail" status of the nation's largest banks.
It was just the latest example of the progressive advocacy that has made her a darling of the left.
Warren lauded Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in her remarks Tuesday for suggesting that policymakers consider other options if the "too big to fail" problem isn't adequately addressed by year's end. The aim is to prevent a repeat of 2008, when the struggles of a few giant firms imperiled the entire financial system.
But more than three years after the enactment of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, federal regulators still haven't implemented some key provisions.
"I applaud Secretary Lew for laying out a timeline, and I'd like to see other administration officials and regulators follow suit," Warren said. She bemoaned an ineffective regulatory system "besieged by lobbyists for the big banks."
Warren's remarks come amid speculation this week, stoked by a cover story from The New Republic, about her potential as a presidential candidate for 2016.
The former Harvard professor has said she's not interested in running. But that hasn't stopped speculation that Warren could challenge the presumed Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.
"We should not accept a financial system that allows the biggest banks to emerge from a crisis in record-setting shape while working Americans continue to struggle," she said.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/12/news/economy/elizabeth-warren/index.html?iid=Lead
I like your style Captain. Hopefully they don't ruin the momo once again
GooooFnF!
No news good news? The press pulled the ignore botton for us?
GoooooFnF!
Still has hardy any volumen
Something new about the cases in court? We're expecting for your inside info, if you don't mind...
GooooFnF!
LOL. Taking a rest after months of stress. Is something that a good pps average allow to do. gl
GooooFnF!
Trading in the same way that when it was at 1.50s Big blocks buys, MMs bashing the price, so fellows can loading chep.
Let's see tomorrow..
GooooFnF!!!
Barcelona es la ostia tio
gooo FnF
LMAO...
GoooooFnF!
That's mine, please don't plagies
Just my feelings.... Nevermind...glty
Gooooo FnF!
agree, evil is in the other side
Gladly I saw it again.
GoooooFnF!!
Hensarling, Corker and Warner are nothing more than another glitch in the system. Best bashers award for them!!
U.S. Seeks $864 Million from BofA After Fraud Verdict -- Reuters
The U.S. government urged that Bank of America Corp (BAC) pay $863.6 million in damages after a jury found it liable for fraud over defective mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit, Reuters reports on its website Saturday.
In a filing late Friday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the government also asked for penalties against Rebecca Mairone, a former executive at the bank's Countrywide unit who the jury also found liable, "commensurate with her ability to pay," according to the report.
"We believe the filing overstates the volume of loans and the appropriate measure of damages arising from one narrow Countrywide program that lasted several months and ended before Bank of America acquired the company," a spokesman for the bank said Saturday, according to Reuters.
Bank of America was found liable for fraud related to loans its Countrywide unit sold to mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a program called the "Hustle" in 2007 and 2008. Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, bought Countrywide in 2008.
Full story at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/09/us-bankofamerica-hustle-idUSBRE9A809P20131109
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Post # 145993
“We have the best government that money can buy.”
Mark Twain
GOOOOOFnF!
don't forget that this is a risky and dirty game in which they took advantage.
GLTY
Thanks blanka...let's see how they play their cards
Just cool off the RSI imo
Can you post wich one please? TIA
Again bro...?
gooooFnF!
Trying to recoup your 11k shares? shame of your broker and all of the MManipulators, unless this isn't true. Seriously MH if this is true I'm sorry, specially now that you started pumping FnF
GoooFnF!!
"We have the best Govt. that money can buy"
Mark Twain
GoooFnF!!
Some Irregularities must have occurred to FINRA issued this statement lol.
Gl
Do you see in the whole OTC market another stocks with the social, political and economical relevance that have FnF?
gl
Santa is coming to town?
Nothing strange me after watching a fictional war with Syria, the Govt shutdown arguing disagreements about the "debt ceiling", the Fed that must to keep buying (poor them) T-bonds and MBS because the unemployment rate and economic indexes are not yet what they expected, a NASDAQ's system glitch a couple of months ago when DOJ announced that would initiate investigations against WS, The Obamacare's system glitch, which had been preparing since a long time ago at just God know what cost, when just began operate after the Govt. shutdown, Politicians that can't reach any consensus on what is the best solution to resolve the Housing issues (is so complicated..) the announcement of F n F Q3 at the same time (as never before) coincidentally with the very pumping IPO of Tweeter that could be the cause of this OTC market system glitch, all of it with the hearings of all cases related in the lawsuits against the Govt.just around de corner in the Court of Appeals. This FINRA HALT (conveniently delayed by two hours)maybe extended till Nov.12th jmo
You see..if those coincidences exist, why Santa not
Post it
FnF them, nobody can trade...I like it
and TDA (Thinkorswim) in my compu shows 2.31 and 2.32...
Madmoney in the street!!
And to say this sheep so many minutes? This is totally abnormal.
Did you read his last article? I'm posted last night, maybe you want include some comments about that.
Post# 145146...Whay Fannie and Freddie are Paying.....
Yes too many coincidences ... FnF MMs!
FMCC REACH NET ZERO!!!!
http://www.freddiemac.com/investors/sec_filings/index.html
GooooFnF!
but conveniently the system today has a glitch, specially today!!! ;-/
GoooFnF!
Freddie Mac Q3 Earnings
http://www.freddiemac.com/investors/sec_filings/index.html
30.5 Billion!
Freddie Mac Q3
http://www.freddiemac.com/investors/sec_filings/index.html
30.5 Billion Dollars
FMCC reported Q3 too 30.5B!!!! They used DTA
Bravoooo!!!! Let's go for those $4. Things change
GoooooFnF!