With a $1.5 billion fine -- one of the largest penalties ever brought against a financial institution by U.S. regulators -- levied against UBS last week, it’s clear that the government is hammering down on banks. And UBS’s massive penalty wasn’t even the largest imposed on a financial institution: Earlier this month, it was surpassed by a whopping $1.9 billion fine against HSBC.
While these two huge payouts are among the steepest penalties ever paid by banks, they are merely among a long list of charges over the past few years that have been brought against firms associated with the 2008 financial crisis.
The onslaught of suits this year, in particular, is for good reason: regulators are racing against the clock to charge the perpetrators responsible for the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression. A legal deadline for filing charges related to the economic crisis is approaching, as federal securities law typically dictates a five-year statute of limitations for fraud cases. Given that most of the violations occurred in 2007 and 2008, those five years are about up. As the opportunity to litigate dwindles, however, regulators might turn to tolling agreements, which could suspend the statute of limitations and give them more time to assess their claims.
Comments | Post a Comment
3 Comments to "Banks Pay Steep Price for Roles in Financial Crisis":
JAFO
24 December 2012
No big whoop... small change compared to profits and nothing compared to hard time (e.g., money laundering for terrorists and drug dealers, fraud and conspiracy for price manipulation)! These are merely toll fees.
crammond1964
26 December 2012
strange how goldmans are missing from this list ..................... innocent or too many ex employees on regulators books ?
Comments (252)
andreapsoras
27 December 2012
and in of the above questions, more than likely GS also is as guilty as the names above.
Again, when wallstreet and its lobbyists control capitol hill and the executive branch, it's neither admit nor deny guilt.
And besides the shareholders of these publicly traded companies are the loosers as well as the public which do business with these companies that represent themselves as honest fiduciaries and agents, which when you look at the whole picture they're all that they're accused of being by all the investigations' panels, the activists carrying the 'predator squid' efagies, Adam Smith on agency, etc.
Comments (5)