The headlines blaze criminal charges for SAC Capital Advisors, a wayward hedge fund. Yet if one reads the Southern district of New York indictment, it is fairly obvious the owner is getting off the hook.
Have you ever noticed that large corporations can get away with pretty much anything? Over and over again a major scandal breaks and in the end the fines are pennies on the dollar for the profits gained by these nefarious financial activities.
Banks can launder money with impunity and the consequences are a small fine in comparison to the profits made. No matter how egregious there are no criminal chargers or revoking of the bank's charter.
The British bank Standard Chartered said on Thursday that it expected to pay $330 million to settle claims by United States government agencies that it had moved hundreds of billions of dollars on behalf of Iran.
It might just be election time. We have Bank of America being sued for Countrywide's hustle, a program which pawned off bad mortgages onto Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 2007 to 2009. The U.S. District Attorney, Office’s Civil Frauds Unit in New York filed a civil complaint against BoA, who acquired Countrywide, for $1 billion.
The Complaint seeks civil penalties under FIRREA, as well as treble damages and penalties under the False Claims Act, for over $1 billion in losses suffered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for defaulted loans fraudulently sold by COUNTRYWIDE and BANK OF AMERICA.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “For the sixth time in less than 18 months, this Office has been compelled to sue a major U.S. bank for reckless mortgage practices in the lead-up to the financial crisis. The fraudulent conduct alleged in today’s complaint was spectacularly brazen in scope. As alleged, through a program aptly named ‘the Hustle,’ Countrywide and Bank of America made disastrously bad loans and stuck taxpayers with the bill. As described, Countrywide and Bank of America systematically removed every check in favor of its own balance – they cast aside underwriters, eliminated quality controls, incentivized unqualified personnel to cut corners, and concealed the resulting defects. These toxic products were then sold to the government sponsored enterprises as good loans. This lawsuit should send another clear message that reckless lending practices will not be tolerated.”
We've heard many a great speech from President Obama before. Last night's State of the Union was no exception. Here at The Economic Populist we say show me the money. We've heard soaring rhetoric from President Obama too many times, yet behind the words, deeds are either opposite or M.I.A.
Still, Obama gave a lot of lip service to U.S. manufacturing and jobs. To even get U.S. manufacturing on the national policy radar is a feat in and of itself. The actual SOTU transcript is on the White House site with a flurry of videos, social media and round tables to boot. Can't say this administration suffers from a lack of word generation!
That said, we all take President Obama at this point with a strong grain of salt. We've been so disappointed already.
Economic Policy Institute Economist Robert Scott noted China's currency manipulation was sorely absent from SOTU. Yet also noted the administration's hands are often tied by Congress:
Kudos to him for continuing to highlight this important issue, but he failed to mention the main cause of our manufacturing woes in the first place: currency manipulation.
It will be months if ever before trials to start for the targets of the FBI raids. In the meantime, Congress failed to extend unemployment benefits for four million workers set to go off the rolls in January.
Will we survive those who rule us and those who aspire to rule in their place, that bipartisan coalition known as The Money Party?
The parade of indictments on Wall Street is just beginning. On Tuesday the FBI raided three major hedge funds (very large private, highly exclusive, unregulated investment funds that generate huge returns for the lucky few). There are more raids on the way, twelve according to one source. Business Insider's excellent article made clear what has the Feds upset: "What's happened, it seems, is that the government has discovered a huge ring of friends or acquaintances who all know each other." Its called insider trading, taking advantage of information to make those huge profits the hedge funds offer. Ten years after the Wall Street Casino opened, they're finally regulating. It may be time for a scapegoat. The hedge funds will do, it appears. The defendants may wish to put in an early bid for a conveniently located federal penitentiary.
For those of you who are familiar with my writing, you've probably seen me use the term "Wall Street exists to separate you from your money."
It occurred to me the other day that I need to justify that opinion. Therefore here is a partial list of reasons why you should keep your money out of the hands of the Wall Street crooks and banksters. This article will not encompass every way that Wall Street steals from average people like you and me, but it might inform you of a few ways that you may not have been aware of.
As the old saying goes, "Forwarned is forearmed."
So without further delay, here's a list of ways that you are being robbed, day after day, year after year.
Have you ever noticed that large corporations can get away with pretty much anything? Over and over again a major scandal breaks and in the end the fines are pennies on the dollar for the profits gained by these nefarious financial activities. 
It might just be election time. We have Bank of America being sued for Countrywide's 
We've heard many a great speech from President Obama before. Last night's State of the Union was no exception. Here at
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