When individuals or companies commit crimes, they’re supposed to be prosecuted and punished.

Except we have this mutant species of corporation called too-big-to-fail banks whose collapse might wreck the global economy. No financial institution in the U.S. can survive a felony indictment. So these companies have become un-indictable, creating a perverse nonchalance regarding financial crimes. In 2010, Wachovia paid $160 million to settle criminal allegations of laundering Mexican drug money. By then the bank had been bought by Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), and the Justice Department let it off with a deferred-prosecution deal. Usually the most that happens to management is someone resigns, as HSBC’s head of compliance, David Bagley, said he would at last month’s Senate hearing.

Für US-Banken wird es eng. Politik und Aufseher gehen mit neuer Härte gegen Geldwäsche vor. Für die Institute ist das vor allem eins: teuer.

Endlich wird den Verbrechern richtig das Handwerk gelegt!

Schön wärs ja, Lehmann, aber träum weiter..