Fergasun Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 So basically there is a lawsuit being field by FHFA, the regulator of Fannie and Freddie that 17 large banks sold them ~ $200B in bad loans without adequate disclosure. I've heard people in the media defend the banks and attack this action by "the Administration" as being dumb, because we need the banks to loan out their money and stimulate the economy and going after them will surely cause them to tighten lending and will be bad for the economy. The argument goes, if this action is taken interest rates will rise, and it will hurt stocks, which is bad for Mr. John Q American Public. Do you agree that we can't go after the banks because if we damage them it will hurt the overall economy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Why not prosecute the employees who were complicit in the fraud? Keep the banks alive and make room for new employees who don't enjoy fraud as a lifestyle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade7 Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 There are a lot of people that should be in jail right now that won't be because of this "too big to fail" nonsense. Sueing them is the least they could do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnyderShrugged Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 In short...NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 It drives me crazy we continue to vote for the same things. And those in charge of some should be held at 10x The punishment. It takes effort to change things and though Prez Obama was to clean lobby and Pelose to drain the swamp As they laugh to each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonnySam&Frank Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Like any tax or regulation, a lawsuit will ultimately be passed on to the public in the form of higher fees, higher loan rates, lower savings/checking account rates, lower investment returns for IRA's, 401K's and pensions, fewer loans, closed/merged banks and lower quality customer service since employees will lose jobs to fund the costs associated with defending and settling the lawsuits. In fact, the financial institutions will use the fees associated with this lawsuit to lower their taxable income. Grow up. The class envy thing does not work. Ultimately, it's all passed on to the public. If laws were broken by employees of financial institions OR the customers of financial institutions (e.g. faslifying income or lying on an application with an affidavit), then the Justice Department and/or the state where the laws were violated should prosecute the individuals involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Grow up. The class envy thing does not work. Ultimately, it's all passed on to the public. If laws were broken by employees of financial institions OR the customers of financial institutions (e.g. faslifying income or lying on an application with an affidavit), then the Justice Department and/or the state where the laws were violated should prosecute the individuals involved. Exactly. It shouldn't be that hard to find the records of employees who were in the wrong. If the records were somehow "misplaced", prosecute the person who is in charge of that. It's not the bank's fault that the employees were commiting fraud. I don't know where we got the big idea to sue corporations for actions of individuals. Other than money grubbing that is. I'm not normally in the big business' corner either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 No 10 characters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdigle Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 I don't know. I'd have to do more research on this before making an informed opinion. I know that commercial bank branches themselves are vital to the economy, but how exactly are they managed? Are they franchised or does a corporate human resources department hire managers for each of its company's branches? As far as investment banks go, they play a vital role in the economy, but I don't know how penalizing them would hurt us in the long run. There are plenty of people out there with lots of money that would be more than willing to start a new investment bank if the opportunity presented itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 As far as investment banks go, they play a vital role in the economy, but I don't know how penalizing them would hurt us in the long run. Hurt is MORE??? Have you seen what they did?? In their greed and fraud they nearly took themselves out as well as taking out the economy....thank goodness we were there to save them what would we do without their help?! <----sarcasm font Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdigle Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Hurt is MORE??? Have you seen what they did?? In their greed and fraud they nearly took themselves out as well as taking out the economy....thank goodness we were there to save them what would we do without their help?! <----sarcasm font Well, think about it. The primary job of an investment bank is to underwrite (i.e., to guarantee the price of) newly-issued securities/stock. Without them, I'd imagine that many companies would be hesitant to either issue new stock on top of preexisting stock or make an initial public offering. Since I know for a fact that the investors in charge of my retirement funds have at least a portion of my money invested in the US stock market, I'd like it to be as smooth-running and transparent as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Well, think about it. The primary job of an investment bank is to underwrite (i.e., to guarantee the price of) newly-issued securities/stock. Without them, I'd imagine that many companies would be hesitant to either issue new stock on top of preexisting stock or make an initial public offering. Since I know for a fact that the investors in charge of my retirement funds have at least a portion of my money invested in the US stock market, I'd like it to be as smooth-running and transparent as possible. But we're talking about FRAUD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanleys Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 The biggest "fraud" was commited by the likes of Chris Dodd and Barny Frank so yes, I say sue them, prosecute them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 The biggest "fraud" was commited by the likes of Chris Dodd and Barny Frank so yes, I say sue them, prosecute them... Yeah they were the one's crashing the system by selling crap and telling investors that it was gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 The biggest "fraud" was commited by the likes of Chris Dodd and Barny Frank so yes, I say sue them, prosecute them... I don't quite follow what you're saying here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Why not prosecute the employees who were complicit in the fraud?Keep the banks alive and make room for new employees who don't enjoy fraud as a lifestyle. This is America. If you tried that what would happen is the lowest level employees they could get away with would be thrown under the bus and the executives that not only knew about it but encouraged it would get another bonus. I've said it before and I'll say it again if you want to change anything you have to drag the execs out charge them all and destroy them completely. Not only try to jail them but send regulators so far up their asses that the board can't risk associating with them. People complain the government is intrusive this is a time it should be. Chase these stuffed suits until they flee the country to find work or retire. That will send the right message. Also don't forget the foreign execs that played a role. Harass their companies as well and cooperate with other governments. The nation needs to stop bowing it's head to business and realize CEOs can replaced and in cases of massive fraud, should be. Nations should be more powerful then businesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 This is America. If you tried that what would happen is the lowest level employees they could get away with would be thrown under the bus and the executives that not only knew about it but encouraged it would get another bonus. I've said it before and I'll say it again if you want to change anything you have to drag the execs out charge them all and destroy them completely. Not only try to jail them but send regulators so far up their asses that the board can't risk associating with them. People complain the government is intrusive this is a time it should be.Chase these stuffed suits until they flee the country to find work or retire. That will send the right message. Also don't forget the foreign execs that played a role. Harass their companies as well and cooperate with other governments. The nation needs to stop bowing it's head to business and realize CEOs can replaced and in cases of massive fraud, should be. Nations should be more powerful then businesses. That's more or less what i was pointing at. I believe the people at the top should be prosecuted and I agree, CEO's can be replaced... very easily. I could be wrong, but I find a difference between prosecuting an employee such as a CEO and prosecuting a business in it's entirety. Really, at the height of the mortgage rip off it was like a pyramid scheme. I knew people who I went to college with getting jobs at these mortgage companies were making money and giving out loans that were [probably] containing many flaws in the paperwork. This type of thing was of course encouraged by their bosses, who were told it was OK by their bosses. All the way up the line. Being complicit in what amounts to financial fraud went all the way to the top. There is zero chance that the leadership in all of these companies didn't know what was going on. Hell, they were the ones watching the money (or at least should have been). So yes, I agree with you. I think it should be United States vs. John Doe CEO and not United States vs. Bank of America though. If that makes any sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojobo Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Wouldn't it have been better to just let these companies fail in the first place? Instead of letting these companies sell their bad loans to the public through tarp maybe we should have just made them responsible for the toxic assets they created in the first place. It's hard to say whether it's a good idea to sue them now since we would have to just bail them out again to keep them solvent making it an empty gesture. If we do sue them it would hopefully force some kind of liquidation of at least a good chunk of their assets. If not then hopefully we don't offer to buy anymore of their toxic assets and they either learn how to run a successful financial company or drive themselves out of the market with their own incompetence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McD5 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 This was a great idea. 2 years ago. But now? With Obama's ratings at an all-time low? It seems disingenuous. Panic time. He's becoming desperate to shift blame to anyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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