Washington (AFP) - Handing out multibillion-dollar fines right and left to domestic and foreign financial giants, the United States has taken on the role of the unforgiving global cop of the business world.
In stark contrast to the relative inertia of white-collar law enforcement in Europe, Washington most recently brought the hammer down on Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, which sold junk-filled, mortgage-backed securities ahead of the 2008 financial meltdown.
Deutsche Bank has agreed to a payout of $7.2 billion, while Credit Suisse settled for $5.3 billion to resolve American authorities' allegations and avoid the lengthy headache of a trial.
Instead of dragging financial firms to court, the US has taken them to the cashier.
American giants have not been spared: JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America collectively have shelled out $40 billion to settle cases linked to toxic, crisis-era financial products.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: This is already "pissing off" a lot of people .... and I am sure that it is going to get worse.
