Economy
Related: About this forumThe JPMorgan Settlement Is A Scam!
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/thom-hartmann/52829/the-jpmorgan-settlement-is-a-scamThe JPMorgan Settlement Is A Scam!
by Thom Hartmann | November 22, 2013 - 10:18am
On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced that JPMorgan has agreed to a $13 billion dollar settlement over the fraudulent sale of mortgage-backed securities. But, that settlement is a fraud in and of itself. Four billion dollars of that figure was actually part of a settlement announced a month earlier, and the rest can hardly be considered a penalty against the big bank. Almost half of the remaining $9 billion will go to so-called mortgage relief, which will be distributed over four years by an independent monitor. That brings the actual settlement amount down to $5.4 billion dollars, even before the bank writes off the total amount against their taxes.
If theyre able to write off even half of the settlement, that knocks off at least another $2.6 billion, which means JPMorgan will actually pay only $2.74 billion dollars after defrauding investors out of more than ten times that amount. This settlement isnt a punishment, its simply a cost of doing business for the too-big-to-fail financial giant. The only good news that came out of the deal is that the Justice Department did not exempt the bank from criminal charges, and an ongoing investigation could lead to more severe penalties.
The fact is, however, even in the face of criminal charges, its unlikely that well see any banksters going to jail. The DOJ will simply take on more fines, and JPMorgan will get to continue operating. Its time to really hold the banksters accountable. The degenerate gambling on Wall Street wont stop until someone starts putting CEOs behind bars.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
n2doc
(47,953 posts)So that this treatment continues. But that, of course, is a rounding error in these sorts of numbers.
lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Then the doj would lock him up
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Celebration
(15,812 posts)None of it is actually going to investors that bought all that bad paper that they peddled--think pension funds, municipalities, etc. And we are ALL invested in these.
If I am wrong about this, someone correct me.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)It was same thing that bankrupted both Detroit and Greece.
They can get away with this slap on the wrist because the media is still pushing the meme that poor people caused it. The deception that "went on" is still going on and no one is doing anything to stop it.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Such is the state of justice in these United States of America. Horrible. And they want to cut social security. Unfuckingbelievable.