Bankers. The red carpet's still being rolled out for them in Washington, but if there's a stain on it they'll pout for days. Jason Linkins documents the latest set of cheap white whines from very wealthy white men. (Discrimination lawsuits are a routine part of their legal troubles, too.) This time they're upset because nobody from the six largest banks in America was invited to the President's CEO Roundtable.
They're offended because they didn't meet with the President? From the looks of things they're lucky not to be meeting with the warden. Their collective rap sheet includes fraud, sex discrimination, collusion to bribe public officials ... even laundering drug money for Mexican drug cartels. One bank's even accused of ripping off some nuns! None of this criminal behavior has stopped them from sulking over a Presidential slight. Let's review the record for these corporate malefactors, and then decide:
Which of these six banks was "America's Most Shameless Corporate Outlaw" in 2010? (I mean, really: Nuns?)
#1. Bank of America
Here are some recent headlines for the country's largest bank:
- "Bank of America Ends Year With Flurry of Lawsuits"
- "Arizona Wants Bank of America Held in Contempt"
- "Nevada, Arizona sue Bank of America over failed mortgage aid"
- "Allstate Sues Bank Of America For Selling 'Toxic' MBS"
- "Bank of America Hit With Missouri Class Action Over Loan Modifications"
Here are some of the details:
Associated Press: "Attorneys general in Arizona and Nevada filed civil lawsuits Friday against Bank of America Corp., alleging that the lender is misleading and deceiving homeowners who have tried to modify mortgages in two of the nation's most foreclosure-damaged states."
Courthouse News Service: "Bank of America violated a consent judgment it signed almost 2 years ago to provide loan modifications and help relocate borrowers, the Arizona attorney general claims ... Bank of America has continued to misrepresent 'to Arizona consumers whether they were eligible for modifications of their mortgage loans, when Bank of America would make a decision on their modification requests ... and whether and when Bank of America would foreclose upon their homes.'"
Consumer Affairs: "The bank is also facing at least three suits claiming that it reneged on duties it undertook by accepting $25 billion under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)."
In total, Bank of America's last annual report lists 29 pending lawsuits against the company. Lawsuits are not proof of guilt, of course. But the bank has already paid a fine for illegally concealing $6 billion in payouts to employees, and another fine for concealing major losses at its Merrill Lynch subsidiary. (Both fines were low - not much more than a slap on the wrist - because Bank of America was on taxpayer-funded life support at the time.) BofA also confessed to committing fraud as part of a settlement this month, which the Justice Department noted was restitution "for its participation in a conspiracy to rig bids in the municipal bond derivatives market." The Bank was also ordered to pay Lehman $590 million for illegally seizing its deposits, in violation of bankruptcy law.
From the Associated Press:
"A document obtained last week by the Associated Press showed a Bank of America official acknowledging in a legal proceeding that she signed thousands of foreclosure documents a month and typically didn't read them. The official, Renee Hertzler, said in a February deposition that she signed 7,000 to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month."
How generous has the taxpayer been to Bank of America? There was the TARP money, of course. And BofA, like other banks, has been suckling at the teat of Federal Reserve's discount money window throughout the crisis. And, as Zach Carter noted, the bank was also one of two institutions that were the main beneficiaries of a special Fed program called the Primary Reserve Credit Facility. There were those cushy settlements with the SEC.
BofA stock was trading at $53 at the end of 2006. As of this writing the stock is trading for $13.30. But its executives have been wasting corporate money and resources buying up 419 web URLs with insulting phrases and the names of their senior executives - most of whom nobody's ever heard of - to protect their personal reputations. No company's ever done that before. Bob Scully "blows" (bobscullyblows.com) and Bill Boardman "sucks" (billboardmansucks.com)? Who knew?
Last year two senior executives received $9.9 million and two others received $6 million in total compensation. The guy who robbed a Bank of America branch in West Palm Beach is going to prison. The bank's senior executives are hurt that they didn't get invited to the Rose Garden for tea.
Rap Sheet: BofA has probably committed more foreclosure offenses than any other single institution. It deceived stockholders, and the public, about the $6 million in bonuses it paid out (during the rescue process), and was equally deceptive about Merrill Lynch's financial status. It has also been punished for rigging municipal bond derivative bids.
Shameless Quotes: CEO Brian Moynihan's response toward demands that his bank comply with HAMP's legal requirements? "Sure," he sneered," we'll go back and check our homework again." And he says he won't accept anything but "constructive criticism." Which sounds more constructive: "suck" or "blow"?
#2. JPMorgan Chase
As we learned recently, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon doesn't feel loved or admired enough. Small wonder. It looks like he's running a pretty sleazy operation:
"At JPMorgan Chase & Company, they were derided as 'Burger King kids' -- walk-in hires who were so inexperienced they barely knew what a mortgage was ... revelations that mortgage servicers failed to accurately document the seizure and sale of tens of thousands of homes have caused a public uproar ..."
Failure to accurately document home foreclosures is illegal. It's lousy management, too. Dimon oversaw a sloppy operation that's going to cost his shareholders a lot of money: "JPMorgan set aside $2.3 billion of reserves to cover mortgage repurchases or litigation expenses, including some for 'mortgage-related matters,' the lender said."
A whistleblower complaint alleges that the bank "sold to third party debt buyers hundreds of millions of dollars worth of credit card accounts. . .when in fact Chase Bank executives knew that many of those accounts had incorrect and overstated balances." According to the complaint, "Chase Bank executives routinely destroyed information and communications from consumers rather than incorporate that information into the consumer's credit card file ... and mass-executed thousands of affidavits in support of Chase Banks collection efforts ... (but) did not have personal knowledge of the facts set forth in the affidavits." It also claims that "when senior Chase Bank executives were made aware of these systemic problems, senior Chase Bank executives -- rather than remedy the problems -- immediately fired the whistleblower and attempted to cover up these problems."
There are also multiple lawsuits against Chase for allegedly manipulating the price of silver, and there is at least one report that the bank is being probed by several Federal agencies (including the Justice Department) over its trading activities in precious metals.
JPMorgan Chase "agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations it sold unregistered securities, many of which defaulted, to the state of Florida," as the Orlando Sentinel reported. That's a crime. Chase was also one of several banks that paid to settle charges that it illegally propped up a failed mortgage lender. (These settlements have typically allowed the banks to "admit no wrongdoing" - a practice which should be stopped. Crimes are crimes.)
JPMorgan Chase's behavior in Jefferson County, Alabama was pure Huey Long material. The Kingfish would've admired the way the bank spread more than $8 million around the county through local intermediaries so it could secure highly lucrative deals on municipal derivatives. As Bloomberg News put it, " JPMorgan, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, used fees on the unregulated derivative contracts -- and a trip to a New York spa for one elected official -- to curry political favor, a decade after the SEC adopted rules to drive out pay-to-play from the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market."
The bank conducted this criminal behavior under Dimon's watch. And while it "neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing," as usual, it had to pay a three-quarters-of-a-billion dollar settlement to wrangle its way out of this snakepit of illegality.
Rap Sheet: Corruption in Alabama; widespread violation of foreclosure laws; sale of unregistered securities. Also under investigation for illegal manipulation of the precious metals market; mishandling of Madoff funds; deliberate lawbreaking in credit card processing, concealment of criminality.
Shameless quotes: "Judy Dimon says the crisis took a toll on him. He used to stand up to bullies who threatened his smaller twin; now he felt as if he, and bankers in general, were being bullied." (from a New York Times profile of Dimon)
3. Citigroup
Citi's being sued for gender discrimination by its own employees. Citi settled a class action lawsuit after illegally raising rates for credit card customers. The bank's being sued by an independent trustee for allegedly "aiding and abetting" a Ponzi schemer.
Citi executives were given slap-on-the-wrist fines for lying to investors about $40 billion in subprime exposures, which is a criminal act. It should also be remembered that Citigroup paid $2.65 billion in 2004 to settle class action lawsuits over its alleged illegal actions in propping up WorldCom stocks in return for enormous fees.
As Citi's annual report notes, "Citigroup and Related Parties have been named as defendants in numerous legal actions and other proceedings asserting claims for damages and related relief for losses arising from the global financial credit and subprime-mortgage crisis that began in 2007."
Citi is still being investigated by Italian courts for possible criminal behavior in the Parmalat case, and it's being sued by a Norwegian bank for misrepresenting its financial condition and failing to disclose material information. It's being sued by investors for misrepresenting its underwriting of mortgage backed securities.
Rap Sheet: Violation of SEC law regarding corporate disclosures; illegal rate activity toward credit card customers. Under investigation for aiding and abetting a Ponzi scheme.
Shameless quotes: "Almost all of us ... missed the powerful combination of forces at work and the serious possibility of a massive crisis." (Robert Rubin) "On November 3, 2007, I sent an email to Mr. Robert Rubin and three other members of Corporate Management. In this email I outlined the business practices that I had witnessed ... I specifically warned about the extreme risks that existed within the Consumer Lending Group." (Former Citi exec Richard Bowen)
4. Wells Fargo
They illegally laundered drug money for the Mexican cartels - and nobody went to jail.
Here's a suggestion: Read stories "War Torn Mexico: A Population in Terror," which begins: "Massacres, beheadings, YouTube videos featuring cartel torture sessions and even car bombs are becoming commonplace in Juarez." Study the statistics on the violent murders - which include Federal agents, children, and "penniless immigrants" - and then remind yourself: These are Wells Fargo's business partners.
Rap Sheet: Mexican drug cartels. It makes the brain reel, doesn't it?
Shameless quotes:"We're more of a Main Street bank than a Wall Street bank." ""Of all the decisions I've had to make, few have been as difficult as cutting the dividend." (Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf)
5. Goldman Sachs
The SEC charged Goldman with fraud, and they settled the suit by admitting their marketing materials contained lies - which they called "mistakes." They were fined by Great Britain for illegally concealing US fraud investigations. Goldman has its own gender discrimination lawsuit, too, and theirs comes complete with strippers and racist emails.
Goldman's being sued for deceiving its clients over an offering its own employee privately (and thanks to Sen. Levin, famously) bragged was "a shitty deal." Goldman separately paid $60 million in Massachusetts to settle charges of predatory loan practices.
After mismanagement drove Goldman into impending doom, the firm was saved by TARP funds and Federal Reserve's Emergency Liquidity Programs. Total taxpayer aid to Goldman exceeded three-quarters of a trillion dollars. Goldman also received $13 billion in backdoor payouts through the AIG liquidation (under Tim Geithner's supervision).
Rap Sheet: Fraudulent misrepresentation; predatory loan practices; illegal concealment of an investigation. And who know what else. They're Goldman, man!
Shameless Quotes: ""We're very important ... We do God's work." (Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein) "If I whet My glittering sword, and Mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to Mine enemies." (God)
6. Morgan Stanley
Earlier this year the Wall Street Journal reported that "U.S. prosecutors are investigating whether Morgan Stanley misled investors about mortgage-derivatives deals it helped design and sometimes bet against." The firm's also being sued by US Bank for fraudulently misleading it and other investors over a structured residential investment called "Tourmaline." A group of investors in Singapore is suing the firm for designing CDOs to fail and then selling them as "conservative investments."
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Morgan Stanley this year for failing to disclose material conflicts of interest to investors. The same agency hit the firm with a $12.5 million fine in 2007 for illegally concealing emails during customer arbitration hearings. In a particularly sleazy move, Morgan Stanley claimed that the emails had been lost on 9/11, when they were all safely stored in backup copies elsewhere.
MS was also sued by the EEOC for gender discrimination.
The firm was able to beat back an investors' lawsuit over bloated executive pay - it set aside 62% of net revenue for employee compensation - so its executives get to keep fat bonuses for driving the company into the ground. Greed and stupidity aren't illegal, after all.
On the other hand, their portfolio of lawsuits including one that says they defrauded nuns in Europe.
Rap Sheet: Despite numerous violations and charges, Morgan Stanley is a relatively minor player compared to its bigger colleagues. On the other hand, it illegally concealed evidence from arbitrators by using the World Trade Center attack as an excuse, and six of its own employees died in that attack. That's just vile. On top of that, they're being sued by nuns.
Shameless Quotes: "When we think back on 2001, we are filled with deep sorrow and outrage over the events of September 11. Who among us will ever forget the shock and horror of that day?" (Morgan Stanley Annual Report, 2001) "When you come that close to really going out of business, call it near death, death experience, the end of the line, whatever you want to call it, your only focus is to make sure your company survives." (former CEO John Mack)
__________________
The American people rescued these six banks. (Dimon says his bank didn't need rescuing, but how would it have fared in a collapsed economy? And the government's willingness to go easy in its illegalities was pretty helpful, too.) They've all violated the law, and they're all suspected of even more possible illegalities. And yet they're all pouting because they weren't invited to the White House along with the other CEOs.
Which is our most shameless corporate lawbreaker? In any normal period of history they'd all be considered corrupt institutions, and their leaders would be ashamed to show their faces among respectable people. But these aren't normal times, are they?
Frankly I'm stumped. They all deserve the title as far as I'm concerned.
__________________________________
This post was produced as part of the Curbing Wall Street project.
Ash was in the middle of working out a loan modification when this happened. “This is in essence a burglary,” Ash remarked. The bank took her late husband’s ashes.
But it doesn't look like there's going to be any concerted effort to fix any of these problems -- if the Fed has its way anyway:
Top policymakers at the Federal Reserve are fighting efforts to rein in widely reported bank abuses, sparking an inter-agency feud with the FDIC and the Treasury Department. The Fed, along with the more bank-friendly Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is resisting moves to craft rules cracking down on banks that charge illegal fees and carry out improper foreclosures. The FDIC supports such rules, according to an FDIC official involved in the dispute.The Fed is run by bankers, after all ...The new regulations would rein in debt collection, loan modification and foreclosure proceedings at bank divisions called "mortgage servicers." Servicers have committed widespread fraud in the foreclosure process. While the recent robo-signing of fraudulent documents has received the most attention, consumer advocates have complained about improper fees and servicer mistakes that lead to foreclosure for years.
"Given that we've seen a massive failure in servicing practices and a massive failure to address servicing in an honest way, I think this is important," says Joshua Rosner, a managing director at Graham Fisher & Co., and longtime critic of the U.S. mortgage system.
Last week, the National Consumer Law Center and the National Association of Consumer Advocates published a survey of 96 foreclosure attorneys from around the country, attesting that servicers have pushed 2,500 of their clients into the foreclosure process, even as the borrowers were negotiating loan modifications with the same servicers.
I think this story tells itself. But if you haven't been following the details I highly recommend dday's coverage on this over the past few months if you want to catch up. It's an astonishing story.
Meanwhile, the wonks at Naked Capitalism have put together a petition to ask the regulators to do their jobs.
As readers may know, the banking industry is trying to prevent the FDIC from moving forward with its proposed reforms on securitizations and is also attacking related SEC reforms, namely amendments to Rule A/B.
To further the effort to curb servicer abuses, please visit the website, StopServicerScams, and sign the petition. As we have written, and as experts and foreclosure defense lawyers have reported in Congressional testimony, and as pending lawsuits by attorneys general in Arizona and Nevada allege, servicer abuses are a significant cause of foreclosures. These include including delaying and misapplying payments, using false hopes of pending mods to extract more payments from consumers, and applying compounding junk fees.
We will submit the signed petition in early January. Thanks for your support in this important effort.
.
Annual Holiday Fundraiser going on right now. If you can help support the blog, I appreciate it. Cheers!
digby 12/22/2010 10:30:00 AM
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robert shumake
Social <b>News</b> Site Reddit Reports 200%+ Growth in 2010
Social news site Reddit posted year-end numbers this afternoon including January and December page view stats that climbed from 250 million pageviews to more than 3X that number, ...
New Edition of Huckleberry Finn to Drop N-Word: Instant Reactions
Auburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Mike Max's <b>News</b> And Notes « CBS Minnesota – <b>News</b>, Sports, Weather <b>...</b>
In this week's News and Notes, a celebrity spotting at a Timberwolves game and what's ahead for the Vikes during their off season.
robert shumake
Social <b>News</b> Site Reddit Reports 200%+ Growth in 2010
Social news site Reddit posted year-end numbers this afternoon including January and December page view stats that climbed from 250 million pageviews to more than 3X that number, ...
New Edition of Huckleberry Finn to Drop N-Word: Instant Reactions
Auburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Mike Max's <b>News</b> And Notes « CBS Minnesota – <b>News</b>, Sports, Weather <b>...</b>
In this week's News and Notes, a celebrity spotting at a Timberwolves game and what's ahead for the Vikes during their off season.
robert shumake
Bankers. The red carpet's still being rolled out for them in Washington, but if there's a stain on it they'll pout for days. Jason Linkins documents the latest set of cheap white whines from very wealthy white men. (Discrimination lawsuits are a routine part of their legal troubles, too.) This time they're upset because nobody from the six largest banks in America was invited to the President's CEO Roundtable.
They're offended because they didn't meet with the President? From the looks of things they're lucky not to be meeting with the warden. Their collective rap sheet includes fraud, sex discrimination, collusion to bribe public officials ... even laundering drug money for Mexican drug cartels. One bank's even accused of ripping off some nuns! None of this criminal behavior has stopped them from sulking over a Presidential slight. Let's review the record for these corporate malefactors, and then decide:
Which of these six banks was "America's Most Shameless Corporate Outlaw" in 2010? (I mean, really: Nuns?)
#1. Bank of America
Here are some recent headlines for the country's largest bank:
- "Bank of America Ends Year With Flurry of Lawsuits"
- "Arizona Wants Bank of America Held in Contempt"
- "Nevada, Arizona sue Bank of America over failed mortgage aid"
- "Allstate Sues Bank Of America For Selling 'Toxic' MBS"
- "Bank of America Hit With Missouri Class Action Over Loan Modifications"
Here are some of the details:
Associated Press: "Attorneys general in Arizona and Nevada filed civil lawsuits Friday against Bank of America Corp., alleging that the lender is misleading and deceiving homeowners who have tried to modify mortgages in two of the nation's most foreclosure-damaged states."
Courthouse News Service: "Bank of America violated a consent judgment it signed almost 2 years ago to provide loan modifications and help relocate borrowers, the Arizona attorney general claims ... Bank of America has continued to misrepresent 'to Arizona consumers whether they were eligible for modifications of their mortgage loans, when Bank of America would make a decision on their modification requests ... and whether and when Bank of America would foreclose upon their homes.'"
Consumer Affairs: "The bank is also facing at least three suits claiming that it reneged on duties it undertook by accepting $25 billion under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)."
In total, Bank of America's last annual report lists 29 pending lawsuits against the company. Lawsuits are not proof of guilt, of course. But the bank has already paid a fine for illegally concealing $6 billion in payouts to employees, and another fine for concealing major losses at its Merrill Lynch subsidiary. (Both fines were low - not much more than a slap on the wrist - because Bank of America was on taxpayer-funded life support at the time.) BofA also confessed to committing fraud as part of a settlement this month, which the Justice Department noted was restitution "for its participation in a conspiracy to rig bids in the municipal bond derivatives market." The Bank was also ordered to pay Lehman $590 million for illegally seizing its deposits, in violation of bankruptcy law.
From the Associated Press:
"A document obtained last week by the Associated Press showed a Bank of America official acknowledging in a legal proceeding that she signed thousands of foreclosure documents a month and typically didn't read them. The official, Renee Hertzler, said in a February deposition that she signed 7,000 to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month."
How generous has the taxpayer been to Bank of America? There was the TARP money, of course. And BofA, like other banks, has been suckling at the teat of Federal Reserve's discount money window throughout the crisis. And, as Zach Carter noted, the bank was also one of two institutions that were the main beneficiaries of a special Fed program called the Primary Reserve Credit Facility. There were those cushy settlements with the SEC.
BofA stock was trading at $53 at the end of 2006. As of this writing the stock is trading for $13.30. But its executives have been wasting corporate money and resources buying up 419 web URLs with insulting phrases and the names of their senior executives - most of whom nobody's ever heard of - to protect their personal reputations. No company's ever done that before. Bob Scully "blows" (bobscullyblows.com) and Bill Boardman "sucks" (billboardmansucks.com)? Who knew?
Last year two senior executives received $9.9 million and two others received $6 million in total compensation. The guy who robbed a Bank of America branch in West Palm Beach is going to prison. The bank's senior executives are hurt that they didn't get invited to the Rose Garden for tea.
Rap Sheet: BofA has probably committed more foreclosure offenses than any other single institution. It deceived stockholders, and the public, about the $6 million in bonuses it paid out (during the rescue process), and was equally deceptive about Merrill Lynch's financial status. It has also been punished for rigging municipal bond derivative bids.
Shameless Quotes: CEO Brian Moynihan's response toward demands that his bank comply with HAMP's legal requirements? "Sure," he sneered," we'll go back and check our homework again." And he says he won't accept anything but "constructive criticism." Which sounds more constructive: "suck" or "blow"?
#2. JPMorgan Chase
As we learned recently, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon doesn't feel loved or admired enough. Small wonder. It looks like he's running a pretty sleazy operation:
"At JPMorgan Chase & Company, they were derided as 'Burger King kids' -- walk-in hires who were so inexperienced they barely knew what a mortgage was ... revelations that mortgage servicers failed to accurately document the seizure and sale of tens of thousands of homes have caused a public uproar ..."
Failure to accurately document home foreclosures is illegal. It's lousy management, too. Dimon oversaw a sloppy operation that's going to cost his shareholders a lot of money: "JPMorgan set aside $2.3 billion of reserves to cover mortgage repurchases or litigation expenses, including some for 'mortgage-related matters,' the lender said."
A whistleblower complaint alleges that the bank "sold to third party debt buyers hundreds of millions of dollars worth of credit card accounts. . .when in fact Chase Bank executives knew that many of those accounts had incorrect and overstated balances." According to the complaint, "Chase Bank executives routinely destroyed information and communications from consumers rather than incorporate that information into the consumer's credit card file ... and mass-executed thousands of affidavits in support of Chase Banks collection efforts ... (but) did not have personal knowledge of the facts set forth in the affidavits." It also claims that "when senior Chase Bank executives were made aware of these systemic problems, senior Chase Bank executives -- rather than remedy the problems -- immediately fired the whistleblower and attempted to cover up these problems."
There are also multiple lawsuits against Chase for allegedly manipulating the price of silver, and there is at least one report that the bank is being probed by several Federal agencies (including the Justice Department) over its trading activities in precious metals.
JPMorgan Chase "agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations it sold unregistered securities, many of which defaulted, to the state of Florida," as the Orlando Sentinel reported. That's a crime. Chase was also one of several banks that paid to settle charges that it illegally propped up a failed mortgage lender. (These settlements have typically allowed the banks to "admit no wrongdoing" - a practice which should be stopped. Crimes are crimes.)
JPMorgan Chase's behavior in Jefferson County, Alabama was pure Huey Long material. The Kingfish would've admired the way the bank spread more than $8 million around the county through local intermediaries so it could secure highly lucrative deals on municipal derivatives. As Bloomberg News put it, " JPMorgan, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, used fees on the unregulated derivative contracts -- and a trip to a New York spa for one elected official -- to curry political favor, a decade after the SEC adopted rules to drive out pay-to-play from the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market."
The bank conducted this criminal behavior under Dimon's watch. And while it "neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing," as usual, it had to pay a three-quarters-of-a-billion dollar settlement to wrangle its way out of this snakepit of illegality.
Rap Sheet: Corruption in Alabama; widespread violation of foreclosure laws; sale of unregistered securities. Also under investigation for illegal manipulation of the precious metals market; mishandling of Madoff funds; deliberate lawbreaking in credit card processing, concealment of criminality.
Shameless quotes: "Judy Dimon says the crisis took a toll on him. He used to stand up to bullies who threatened his smaller twin; now he felt as if he, and bankers in general, were being bullied." (from a New York Times profile of Dimon)
3. Citigroup
Citi's being sued for gender discrimination by its own employees. Citi settled a class action lawsuit after illegally raising rates for credit card customers. The bank's being sued by an independent trustee for allegedly "aiding and abetting" a Ponzi schemer.
Citi executives were given slap-on-the-wrist fines for lying to investors about $40 billion in subprime exposures, which is a criminal act. It should also be remembered that Citigroup paid $2.65 billion in 2004 to settle class action lawsuits over its alleged illegal actions in propping up WorldCom stocks in return for enormous fees.
As Citi's annual report notes, "Citigroup and Related Parties have been named as defendants in numerous legal actions and other proceedings asserting claims for damages and related relief for losses arising from the global financial credit and subprime-mortgage crisis that began in 2007."
Citi is still being investigated by Italian courts for possible criminal behavior in the Parmalat case, and it's being sued by a Norwegian bank for misrepresenting its financial condition and failing to disclose material information. It's being sued by investors for misrepresenting its underwriting of mortgage backed securities.
Rap Sheet: Violation of SEC law regarding corporate disclosures; illegal rate activity toward credit card customers. Under investigation for aiding and abetting a Ponzi scheme.
Shameless quotes: "Almost all of us ... missed the powerful combination of forces at work and the serious possibility of a massive crisis." (Robert Rubin) "On November 3, 2007, I sent an email to Mr. Robert Rubin and three other members of Corporate Management. In this email I outlined the business practices that I had witnessed ... I specifically warned about the extreme risks that existed within the Consumer Lending Group." (Former Citi exec Richard Bowen)
4. Wells Fargo
They illegally laundered drug money for the Mexican cartels - and nobody went to jail.
Here's a suggestion: Read stories "War Torn Mexico: A Population in Terror," which begins: "Massacres, beheadings, YouTube videos featuring cartel torture sessions and even car bombs are becoming commonplace in Juarez." Study the statistics on the violent murders - which include Federal agents, children, and "penniless immigrants" - and then remind yourself: These are Wells Fargo's business partners.
Rap Sheet: Mexican drug cartels. It makes the brain reel, doesn't it?
Shameless quotes:"We're more of a Main Street bank than a Wall Street bank." ""Of all the decisions I've had to make, few have been as difficult as cutting the dividend." (Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf)
5. Goldman Sachs
The SEC charged Goldman with fraud, and they settled the suit by admitting their marketing materials contained lies - which they called "mistakes." They were fined by Great Britain for illegally concealing US fraud investigations. Goldman has its own gender discrimination lawsuit, too, and theirs comes complete with strippers and racist emails.
Goldman's being sued for deceiving its clients over an offering its own employee privately (and thanks to Sen. Levin, famously) bragged was "a shitty deal." Goldman separately paid $60 million in Massachusetts to settle charges of predatory loan practices.
After mismanagement drove Goldman into impending doom, the firm was saved by TARP funds and Federal Reserve's Emergency Liquidity Programs. Total taxpayer aid to Goldman exceeded three-quarters of a trillion dollars. Goldman also received $13 billion in backdoor payouts through the AIG liquidation (under Tim Geithner's supervision).
Rap Sheet: Fraudulent misrepresentation; predatory loan practices; illegal concealment of an investigation. And who know what else. They're Goldman, man!
Shameless Quotes: ""We're very important ... We do God's work." (Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein) "If I whet My glittering sword, and Mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to Mine enemies." (God)
6. Morgan Stanley
Earlier this year the Wall Street Journal reported that "U.S. prosecutors are investigating whether Morgan Stanley misled investors about mortgage-derivatives deals it helped design and sometimes bet against." The firm's also being sued by US Bank for fraudulently misleading it and other investors over a structured residential investment called "Tourmaline." A group of investors in Singapore is suing the firm for designing CDOs to fail and then selling them as "conservative investments."
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Morgan Stanley this year for failing to disclose material conflicts of interest to investors. The same agency hit the firm with a $12.5 million fine in 2007 for illegally concealing emails during customer arbitration hearings. In a particularly sleazy move, Morgan Stanley claimed that the emails had been lost on 9/11, when they were all safely stored in backup copies elsewhere.
MS was also sued by the EEOC for gender discrimination.
The firm was able to beat back an investors' lawsuit over bloated executive pay - it set aside 62% of net revenue for employee compensation - so its executives get to keep fat bonuses for driving the company into the ground. Greed and stupidity aren't illegal, after all.
On the other hand, their portfolio of lawsuits including one that says they defrauded nuns in Europe.
Rap Sheet: Despite numerous violations and charges, Morgan Stanley is a relatively minor player compared to its bigger colleagues. On the other hand, it illegally concealed evidence from arbitrators by using the World Trade Center attack as an excuse, and six of its own employees died in that attack. That's just vile. On top of that, they're being sued by nuns.
Shameless Quotes: "When we think back on 2001, we are filled with deep sorrow and outrage over the events of September 11. Who among us will ever forget the shock and horror of that day?" (Morgan Stanley Annual Report, 2001) "When you come that close to really going out of business, call it near death, death experience, the end of the line, whatever you want to call it, your only focus is to make sure your company survives." (former CEO John Mack)
__________________
The American people rescued these six banks. (Dimon says his bank didn't need rescuing, but how would it have fared in a collapsed economy? And the government's willingness to go easy in its illegalities was pretty helpful, too.) They've all violated the law, and they're all suspected of even more possible illegalities. And yet they're all pouting because they weren't invited to the White House along with the other CEOs.
Which is our most shameless corporate lawbreaker? In any normal period of history they'd all be considered corrupt institutions, and their leaders would be ashamed to show their faces among respectable people. But these aren't normal times, are they?
Frankly I'm stumped. They all deserve the title as far as I'm concerned.
__________________________________
This post was produced as part of the Curbing Wall Street project.
Ash was in the middle of working out a loan modification when this happened. “This is in essence a burglary,” Ash remarked. The bank took her late husband’s ashes.
But it doesn't look like there's going to be any concerted effort to fix any of these problems -- if the Fed has its way anyway:
Top policymakers at the Federal Reserve are fighting efforts to rein in widely reported bank abuses, sparking an inter-agency feud with the FDIC and the Treasury Department. The Fed, along with the more bank-friendly Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is resisting moves to craft rules cracking down on banks that charge illegal fees and carry out improper foreclosures. The FDIC supports such rules, according to an FDIC official involved in the dispute.The Fed is run by bankers, after all ...The new regulations would rein in debt collection, loan modification and foreclosure proceedings at bank divisions called "mortgage servicers." Servicers have committed widespread fraud in the foreclosure process. While the recent robo-signing of fraudulent documents has received the most attention, consumer advocates have complained about improper fees and servicer mistakes that lead to foreclosure for years.
"Given that we've seen a massive failure in servicing practices and a massive failure to address servicing in an honest way, I think this is important," says Joshua Rosner, a managing director at Graham Fisher & Co., and longtime critic of the U.S. mortgage system.
Last week, the National Consumer Law Center and the National Association of Consumer Advocates published a survey of 96 foreclosure attorneys from around the country, attesting that servicers have pushed 2,500 of their clients into the foreclosure process, even as the borrowers were negotiating loan modifications with the same servicers.
I think this story tells itself. But if you haven't been following the details I highly recommend dday's coverage on this over the past few months if you want to catch up. It's an astonishing story.
Meanwhile, the wonks at Naked Capitalism have put together a petition to ask the regulators to do their jobs.
As readers may know, the banking industry is trying to prevent the FDIC from moving forward with its proposed reforms on securitizations and is also attacking related SEC reforms, namely amendments to Rule A/B.
To further the effort to curb servicer abuses, please visit the website, StopServicerScams, and sign the petition. As we have written, and as experts and foreclosure defense lawyers have reported in Congressional testimony, and as pending lawsuits by attorneys general in Arizona and Nevada allege, servicer abuses are a significant cause of foreclosures. These include including delaying and misapplying payments, using false hopes of pending mods to extract more payments from consumers, and applying compounding junk fees.
We will submit the signed petition in early January. Thanks for your support in this important effort.
.
Annual Holiday Fundraiser going on right now. If you can help support the blog, I appreciate it. Cheers!
digby 12/22/2010 10:30:00 AM
|
robert shumake
robert shumake
Social <b>News</b> Site Reddit Reports 200%+ Growth in 2010
Social news site Reddit posted year-end numbers this afternoon including January and December page view stats that climbed from 250 million pageviews to more than 3X that number, ...
New Edition of Huckleberry Finn to Drop N-Word: Instant Reactions
Auburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Mike Max's <b>News</b> And Notes « CBS Minnesota – <b>News</b>, Sports, Weather <b>...</b>
In this week's News and Notes, a celebrity spotting at a Timberwolves game and what's ahead for the Vikes during their off season.
robert shumake
Social <b>News</b> Site Reddit Reports 200%+ Growth in 2010
Social news site Reddit posted year-end numbers this afternoon including January and December page view stats that climbed from 250 million pageviews to more than 3X that number, ...
New Edition of Huckleberry Finn to Drop N-Word: Instant Reactions
Auburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Mike Max's <b>News</b> And Notes « CBS Minnesota – <b>News</b>, Sports, Weather <b>...</b>
In this week's News and Notes, a celebrity spotting at a Timberwolves game and what's ahead for the Vikes during their off season.
robert shumake detroit
If you are facing foreclosure, chances are you're a nervous wreck. After all, the possibility of losing your home is scary. However, all is not lost until a judge slams his gavel on the bench and claims your house to be foreclosed.
In order to stop foreclosure, the first thing you need to do is stop avoiding the process. When people fall behind on their mortgage payments, more often than not they quickly turn to avoidance. Foreclosure affects people mentally and emotionally. It stirs up thoughts and feelings that can create immobilizing fear; paralyzing the mind and halting the ability to become proactive.
While it might seem a daunting task, if you want to stop foreclosure, you must contact your lender. Typically, you will be assigned to a Loss Mitigator who will work with you and help determine which plan of action is best suited for you. If your lender does not have a Loss Mitigation Department, or if you are uncomfortable working with the Loss Mitigator assigned to your case, you can hire a private loss mitigator to assist you.
If you have the ability to pay the past due balance, the lender may simply reinstate your loan. More often than not, you will be questioned about what caused you to fall behind on your payments. Your lender might offer credit counseling classes or provide resources to help you better plan for the future. Chances are you will be charged late fees and accrued interest on the past due balance.
If you are unable pay past due mortgage payments your lender may offer the option of a Forbearance Agreement. This agreement might transfer the past due balance to the end of the loan or temporarily reduce or suspend payments. You will be in a better position to negotiate if you are able to offer a portion of the past due amount. However, if you don't have any cash, do not allow it stop you from asking for a Forbearance Agreement.
If you are able to show a good faith effort, lenders will be more willing to work with you. Devise a repayment plan and provide proof of your income and expenses. Make certain the plan is one you can realistically live with and do whatever it takes to stick to it. If you fail to make timely payments, your lender won't be as willing to give you a second chance.
Another way to stop foreclosure is to sell your home. This option is best for individuals who have equity in their property. It can be challenging to locate a real estate agent willing to list homes without equity. Reason being when a realtor sells your home, you have to pay them a commission fee. If you don't have any equity, there is no cash to cover the realtor's commission.
If you aren't able to find a realtor, you can attempt to sell your home on your own. This can be tricky and cost you a fortune if you don't know what you are doing. If you decide to go this route take time to educate yourself about the process. Conduct research online, at the library, or attend real estate seminars. Arm yourself with knowledge or you could end up in worse shape than you are right now.
When you place a "For Sale by Owner" sign in your front yard, be prepared to be contacted by companies offering to buy your home. The majority of these unsolicited offers are scams and should be tossed in the trash. When these people contact you it's crucial that you be extremely skeptical. While there are legitimate home buying businesses and private real estate investors that will purchase your home, many are only out to pull the wool over your eyes and leave you holding the bag.
A third option to stop the foreclosure process is referred to as a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. This process allows you to give your house back to the lender. You voluntarily leave the home and the bank sells it through public auction.
A Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure does not protect your credit, but it does allow you to walk away from the home and the mortgage payment. However, if there are any liens against the home, you are still obligated to pay them.
Last, but not least, you might be forced into bankruptcy to stop foreclosure. Recent changes in bankruptcy laws have made it more difficult and expensive to file. There are several types of bankruptcy chapters, so it's best to hire a bankruptcy attorney to help you determine which chapter is best for you.
robert shumake
Social <b>News</b> Site Reddit Reports 200%+ Growth in 2010
Social news site Reddit posted year-end numbers this afternoon including January and December page view stats that climbed from 250 million pageviews to more than 3X that number, ...
New Edition of Huckleberry Finn to Drop N-Word: Instant Reactions
Auburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Mike Max's <b>News</b> And Notes « CBS Minnesota – <b>News</b>, Sports, Weather <b>...</b>
In this week's News and Notes, a celebrity spotting at a Timberwolves game and what's ahead for the Vikes during their off season.
robert shumake detroit
robert shumake detroit
Bankers. The red carpet's still being rolled out for them in Washington, but if there's a stain on it they'll pout for days. Jason Linkins documents the latest set of cheap white whines from very wealthy white men. (Discrimination lawsuits are a routine part of their legal troubles, too.) This time they're upset because nobody from the six largest banks in America was invited to the President's CEO Roundtable.
They're offended because they didn't meet with the President? From the looks of things they're lucky not to be meeting with the warden. Their collective rap sheet includes fraud, sex discrimination, collusion to bribe public officials ... even laundering drug money for Mexican drug cartels. One bank's even accused of ripping off some nuns! None of this criminal behavior has stopped them from sulking over a Presidential slight. Let's review the record for these corporate malefactors, and then decide:
Which of these six banks was "America's Most Shameless Corporate Outlaw" in 2010? (I mean, really: Nuns?)
#1. Bank of America
Here are some recent headlines for the country's largest bank:
- "Bank of America Ends Year With Flurry of Lawsuits"
- "Arizona Wants Bank of America Held in Contempt"
- "Nevada, Arizona sue Bank of America over failed mortgage aid"
- "Allstate Sues Bank Of America For Selling 'Toxic' MBS"
- "Bank of America Hit With Missouri Class Action Over Loan Modifications"
Here are some of the details:
Associated Press: "Attorneys general in Arizona and Nevada filed civil lawsuits Friday against Bank of America Corp., alleging that the lender is misleading and deceiving homeowners who have tried to modify mortgages in two of the nation's most foreclosure-damaged states."
Courthouse News Service: "Bank of America violated a consent judgment it signed almost 2 years ago to provide loan modifications and help relocate borrowers, the Arizona attorney general claims ... Bank of America has continued to misrepresent 'to Arizona consumers whether they were eligible for modifications of their mortgage loans, when Bank of America would make a decision on their modification requests ... and whether and when Bank of America would foreclose upon their homes.'"
Consumer Affairs: "The bank is also facing at least three suits claiming that it reneged on duties it undertook by accepting $25 billion under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)."
In total, Bank of America's last annual report lists 29 pending lawsuits against the company. Lawsuits are not proof of guilt, of course. But the bank has already paid a fine for illegally concealing $6 billion in payouts to employees, and another fine for concealing major losses at its Merrill Lynch subsidiary. (Both fines were low - not much more than a slap on the wrist - because Bank of America was on taxpayer-funded life support at the time.) BofA also confessed to committing fraud as part of a settlement this month, which the Justice Department noted was restitution "for its participation in a conspiracy to rig bids in the municipal bond derivatives market." The Bank was also ordered to pay Lehman $590 million for illegally seizing its deposits, in violation of bankruptcy law.
From the Associated Press:
"A document obtained last week by the Associated Press showed a Bank of America official acknowledging in a legal proceeding that she signed thousands of foreclosure documents a month and typically didn't read them. The official, Renee Hertzler, said in a February deposition that she signed 7,000 to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month."
How generous has the taxpayer been to Bank of America? There was the TARP money, of course. And BofA, like other banks, has been suckling at the teat of Federal Reserve's discount money window throughout the crisis. And, as Zach Carter noted, the bank was also one of two institutions that were the main beneficiaries of a special Fed program called the Primary Reserve Credit Facility. There were those cushy settlements with the SEC.
BofA stock was trading at $53 at the end of 2006. As of this writing the stock is trading for $13.30. But its executives have been wasting corporate money and resources buying up 419 web URLs with insulting phrases and the names of their senior executives - most of whom nobody's ever heard of - to protect their personal reputations. No company's ever done that before. Bob Scully "blows" (bobscullyblows.com) and Bill Boardman "sucks" (billboardmansucks.com)? Who knew?
Last year two senior executives received $9.9 million and two others received $6 million in total compensation. The guy who robbed a Bank of America branch in West Palm Beach is going to prison. The bank's senior executives are hurt that they didn't get invited to the Rose Garden for tea.
Rap Sheet: BofA has probably committed more foreclosure offenses than any other single institution. It deceived stockholders, and the public, about the $6 million in bonuses it paid out (during the rescue process), and was equally deceptive about Merrill Lynch's financial status. It has also been punished for rigging municipal bond derivative bids.
Shameless Quotes: CEO Brian Moynihan's response toward demands that his bank comply with HAMP's legal requirements? "Sure," he sneered," we'll go back and check our homework again." And he says he won't accept anything but "constructive criticism." Which sounds more constructive: "suck" or "blow"?
#2. JPMorgan Chase
As we learned recently, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon doesn't feel loved or admired enough. Small wonder. It looks like he's running a pretty sleazy operation:
"At JPMorgan Chase & Company, they were derided as 'Burger King kids' -- walk-in hires who were so inexperienced they barely knew what a mortgage was ... revelations that mortgage servicers failed to accurately document the seizure and sale of tens of thousands of homes have caused a public uproar ..."
Failure to accurately document home foreclosures is illegal. It's lousy management, too. Dimon oversaw a sloppy operation that's going to cost his shareholders a lot of money: "JPMorgan set aside $2.3 billion of reserves to cover mortgage repurchases or litigation expenses, including some for 'mortgage-related matters,' the lender said."
A whistleblower complaint alleges that the bank "sold to third party debt buyers hundreds of millions of dollars worth of credit card accounts. . .when in fact Chase Bank executives knew that many of those accounts had incorrect and overstated balances." According to the complaint, "Chase Bank executives routinely destroyed information and communications from consumers rather than incorporate that information into the consumer's credit card file ... and mass-executed thousands of affidavits in support of Chase Banks collection efforts ... (but) did not have personal knowledge of the facts set forth in the affidavits." It also claims that "when senior Chase Bank executives were made aware of these systemic problems, senior Chase Bank executives -- rather than remedy the problems -- immediately fired the whistleblower and attempted to cover up these problems."
There are also multiple lawsuits against Chase for allegedly manipulating the price of silver, and there is at least one report that the bank is being probed by several Federal agencies (including the Justice Department) over its trading activities in precious metals.
JPMorgan Chase "agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations it sold unregistered securities, many of which defaulted, to the state of Florida," as the Orlando Sentinel reported. That's a crime. Chase was also one of several banks that paid to settle charges that it illegally propped up a failed mortgage lender. (These settlements have typically allowed the banks to "admit no wrongdoing" - a practice which should be stopped. Crimes are crimes.)
JPMorgan Chase's behavior in Jefferson County, Alabama was pure Huey Long material. The Kingfish would've admired the way the bank spread more than $8 million around the county through local intermediaries so it could secure highly lucrative deals on municipal derivatives. As Bloomberg News put it, " JPMorgan, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, used fees on the unregulated derivative contracts -- and a trip to a New York spa for one elected official -- to curry political favor, a decade after the SEC adopted rules to drive out pay-to-play from the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market."
The bank conducted this criminal behavior under Dimon's watch. And while it "neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing," as usual, it had to pay a three-quarters-of-a-billion dollar settlement to wrangle its way out of this snakepit of illegality.
Rap Sheet: Corruption in Alabama; widespread violation of foreclosure laws; sale of unregistered securities. Also under investigation for illegal manipulation of the precious metals market; mishandling of Madoff funds; deliberate lawbreaking in credit card processing, concealment of criminality.
Shameless quotes: "Judy Dimon says the crisis took a toll on him. He used to stand up to bullies who threatened his smaller twin; now he felt as if he, and bankers in general, were being bullied." (from a New York Times profile of Dimon)
3. Citigroup
Citi's being sued for gender discrimination by its own employees. Citi settled a class action lawsuit after illegally raising rates for credit card customers. The bank's being sued by an independent trustee for allegedly "aiding and abetting" a Ponzi schemer.
Citi executives were given slap-on-the-wrist fines for lying to investors about $40 billion in subprime exposures, which is a criminal act. It should also be remembered that Citigroup paid $2.65 billion in 2004 to settle class action lawsuits over its alleged illegal actions in propping up WorldCom stocks in return for enormous fees.
As Citi's annual report notes, "Citigroup and Related Parties have been named as defendants in numerous legal actions and other proceedings asserting claims for damages and related relief for losses arising from the global financial credit and subprime-mortgage crisis that began in 2007."
Citi is still being investigated by Italian courts for possible criminal behavior in the Parmalat case, and it's being sued by a Norwegian bank for misrepresenting its financial condition and failing to disclose material information. It's being sued by investors for misrepresenting its underwriting of mortgage backed securities.
Rap Sheet: Violation of SEC law regarding corporate disclosures; illegal rate activity toward credit card customers. Under investigation for aiding and abetting a Ponzi scheme.
Shameless quotes: "Almost all of us ... missed the powerful combination of forces at work and the serious possibility of a massive crisis." (Robert Rubin) "On November 3, 2007, I sent an email to Mr. Robert Rubin and three other members of Corporate Management. In this email I outlined the business practices that I had witnessed ... I specifically warned about the extreme risks that existed within the Consumer Lending Group." (Former Citi exec Richard Bowen)
4. Wells Fargo
They illegally laundered drug money for the Mexican cartels - and nobody went to jail.
Here's a suggestion: Read stories "War Torn Mexico: A Population in Terror," which begins: "Massacres, beheadings, YouTube videos featuring cartel torture sessions and even car bombs are becoming commonplace in Juarez." Study the statistics on the violent murders - which include Federal agents, children, and "penniless immigrants" - and then remind yourself: These are Wells Fargo's business partners.
Rap Sheet: Mexican drug cartels. It makes the brain reel, doesn't it?
Shameless quotes:"We're more of a Main Street bank than a Wall Street bank." ""Of all the decisions I've had to make, few have been as difficult as cutting the dividend." (Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf)
5. Goldman Sachs
The SEC charged Goldman with fraud, and they settled the suit by admitting their marketing materials contained lies - which they called "mistakes." They were fined by Great Britain for illegally concealing US fraud investigations. Goldman has its own gender discrimination lawsuit, too, and theirs comes complete with strippers and racist emails.
Goldman's being sued for deceiving its clients over an offering its own employee privately (and thanks to Sen. Levin, famously) bragged was "a shitty deal." Goldman separately paid $60 million in Massachusetts to settle charges of predatory loan practices.
After mismanagement drove Goldman into impending doom, the firm was saved by TARP funds and Federal Reserve's Emergency Liquidity Programs. Total taxpayer aid to Goldman exceeded three-quarters of a trillion dollars. Goldman also received $13 billion in backdoor payouts through the AIG liquidation (under Tim Geithner's supervision).
Rap Sheet: Fraudulent misrepresentation; predatory loan practices; illegal concealment of an investigation. And who know what else. They're Goldman, man!
Shameless Quotes: ""We're very important ... We do God's work." (Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein) "If I whet My glittering sword, and Mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to Mine enemies." (God)
6. Morgan Stanley
Earlier this year the Wall Street Journal reported that "U.S. prosecutors are investigating whether Morgan Stanley misled investors about mortgage-derivatives deals it helped design and sometimes bet against." The firm's also being sued by US Bank for fraudulently misleading it and other investors over a structured residential investment called "Tourmaline." A group of investors in Singapore is suing the firm for designing CDOs to fail and then selling them as "conservative investments."
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Morgan Stanley this year for failing to disclose material conflicts of interest to investors. The same agency hit the firm with a $12.5 million fine in 2007 for illegally concealing emails during customer arbitration hearings. In a particularly sleazy move, Morgan Stanley claimed that the emails had been lost on 9/11, when they were all safely stored in backup copies elsewhere.
MS was also sued by the EEOC for gender discrimination.
The firm was able to beat back an investors' lawsuit over bloated executive pay - it set aside 62% of net revenue for employee compensation - so its executives get to keep fat bonuses for driving the company into the ground. Greed and stupidity aren't illegal, after all.
On the other hand, their portfolio of lawsuits including one that says they defrauded nuns in Europe.
Rap Sheet: Despite numerous violations and charges, Morgan Stanley is a relatively minor player compared to its bigger colleagues. On the other hand, it illegally concealed evidence from arbitrators by using the World Trade Center attack as an excuse, and six of its own employees died in that attack. That's just vile. On top of that, they're being sued by nuns.
Shameless Quotes: "When we think back on 2001, we are filled with deep sorrow and outrage over the events of September 11. Who among us will ever forget the shock and horror of that day?" (Morgan Stanley Annual Report, 2001) "When you come that close to really going out of business, call it near death, death experience, the end of the line, whatever you want to call it, your only focus is to make sure your company survives." (former CEO John Mack)
__________________
The American people rescued these six banks. (Dimon says his bank didn't need rescuing, but how would it have fared in a collapsed economy? And the government's willingness to go easy in its illegalities was pretty helpful, too.) They've all violated the law, and they're all suspected of even more possible illegalities. And yet they're all pouting because they weren't invited to the White House along with the other CEOs.
Which is our most shameless corporate lawbreaker? In any normal period of history they'd all be considered corrupt institutions, and their leaders would be ashamed to show their faces among respectable people. But these aren't normal times, are they?
Frankly I'm stumped. They all deserve the title as far as I'm concerned.
__________________________________
This post was produced as part of the Curbing Wall Street project.
Ash was in the middle of working out a loan modification when this happened. “This is in essence a burglary,” Ash remarked. The bank took her late husband’s ashes.
But it doesn't look like there's going to be any concerted effort to fix any of these problems -- if the Fed has its way anyway:
Top policymakers at the Federal Reserve are fighting efforts to rein in widely reported bank abuses, sparking an inter-agency feud with the FDIC and the Treasury Department. The Fed, along with the more bank-friendly Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is resisting moves to craft rules cracking down on banks that charge illegal fees and carry out improper foreclosures. The FDIC supports such rules, according to an FDIC official involved in the dispute.The Fed is run by bankers, after all ...The new regulations would rein in debt collection, loan modification and foreclosure proceedings at bank divisions called "mortgage servicers." Servicers have committed widespread fraud in the foreclosure process. While the recent robo-signing of fraudulent documents has received the most attention, consumer advocates have complained about improper fees and servicer mistakes that lead to foreclosure for years.
"Given that we've seen a massive failure in servicing practices and a massive failure to address servicing in an honest way, I think this is important," says Joshua Rosner, a managing director at Graham Fisher & Co., and longtime critic of the U.S. mortgage system.
Last week, the National Consumer Law Center and the National Association of Consumer Advocates published a survey of 96 foreclosure attorneys from around the country, attesting that servicers have pushed 2,500 of their clients into the foreclosure process, even as the borrowers were negotiating loan modifications with the same servicers.
I think this story tells itself. But if you haven't been following the details I highly recommend dday's coverage on this over the past few months if you want to catch up. It's an astonishing story.
Meanwhile, the wonks at Naked Capitalism have put together a petition to ask the regulators to do their jobs.
As readers may know, the banking industry is trying to prevent the FDIC from moving forward with its proposed reforms on securitizations and is also attacking related SEC reforms, namely amendments to Rule A/B.
To further the effort to curb servicer abuses, please visit the website, StopServicerScams, and sign the petition. As we have written, and as experts and foreclosure defense lawyers have reported in Congressional testimony, and as pending lawsuits by attorneys general in Arizona and Nevada allege, servicer abuses are a significant cause of foreclosures. These include including delaying and misapplying payments, using false hopes of pending mods to extract more payments from consumers, and applying compounding junk fees.
We will submit the signed petition in early January. Thanks for your support in this important effort.
.
Annual Holiday Fundraiser going on right now. If you can help support the blog, I appreciate it. Cheers!
digby 12/22/2010 10:30:00 AM
|
robert shumake detroit
Social <b>News</b> Site Reddit Reports 200%+ Growth in 2010
Social news site Reddit posted year-end numbers this afternoon including January and December page view stats that climbed from 250 million pageviews to more than 3X that number, ...
New Edition of Huckleberry Finn to Drop N-Word: Instant Reactions
Auburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Mike Max's <b>News</b> And Notes « CBS Minnesota – <b>News</b>, Sports, Weather <b>...</b>
In this week's News and Notes, a celebrity spotting at a Timberwolves game and what's ahead for the Vikes during their off season.
robert shumake
robert shumake
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