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Wall Street Shocked As Feds Bring Criminal Case Against Goldman Banker Over Fed Leaks

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Perhaps it was the public shaming of Iceland's diametrically opposite approach to 'dealing' with its bankers, or perhaps Janet Yellen needs a distraction from her own 'Fed Leak' problems, or finally perhaps Carmen Segarra's 2013 whistleblowing over the cozy relationship between Goldman and The New York Fed was just too conspicuous to brush under the carpet. Despite Bill Dudley's insistence that The New York Fed is not a subsidiary of Goldman, The NY Times reports, federal prosecutors are preparing to announce a criminal case this week against a former Goldman banker suspected of taking confidential documents from a source inside the government.

As we previously detailed, this is what happened in July 2014:

From his desk in Lower Manhattan, a banker at Goldman Sachs thumbed through confidential documents — courtesy of a source inside the United States government.

 

The banker came to Goldman through the so-called revolving door, the symbolic portal that connects financial regulators to Wall Street. He joined in July after spending seven years as a regulator at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the government’s front line in overseeing the financial industry. He received the confidential information, lawyers briefed on the matter suspect, from a former colleague who was still working at the New York Fed.

As a reminder, the NY Fed is also the world's biggest hegde fund, as it is the place where, at Liberty 33, the Fed's market moving operations are executed. It is also where the legendary PPT is located. Continuing:

The previously unreported leak, recounted in interviews with the lawyers briefed on the matter who spoke anonymously because the episode is not public, illustrates the blurred lines between Wall Street and the government — and the potential conflicts of interest that can result. When Goldman hired the former New York Fed regulator, who is 29, it assigned him to advise the same type of banks that he once policed. And the banker obtained confidential information, along with several publicly available facts, in the course of assignments from his bosses at Goldman, the lawyers said.

What exactly data was one current NY Fed staffer leaking to a former NY Fed staffer, currently working at Goldman?

The information provided Goldman a window into the New York Fed’s private insights, the lawyers said, including details about at least one of Goldman’s clients, a midsize bank regulated by the Fed. Although it is unclear how Goldman bankers used the information, if at all, the confidential details could have helped them advise the client.

And the biggest irony is that Bansal's illegal abuse of confidential NY Fed data only was noticed for the first time... when Carmen Segarra's allegations hit the public for the second time on September 26 as noted above:

At the request of his bosses, Mr. Bansal gathered information about how regulators might view various issues facing Goldman’s banking clients, the lawyers briefed on the matter said. Much of what Mr. Bansal learned, the lawyers said, was fair game.

 

But in an email to his supervisor, Joseph Jiampietro, Mr. Bansal shared some potentially confidential supervisory information about a Goldman banking client. Mr. Jiampietro — a managing director at Goldman who was once a senior adviser to Sheila Bair, the former F.D.I.C. head — has since told colleagues he had no idea the information was subject to regulatory restrictions.

 

“Mr. Jiampietro never knowingly or improperly reviewed or misused” confidential supervisory information, his lawyer, Adam Ford, said in a statement. “He should not have been terminated. Any compliance failings regarding Mr. Bansal had nothing to do with Mr. Jiampietro.”

 

It was not until the morning of Sept. 26 that Goldman executives objected to some of Mr. Bansal’s information, the lawyers briefed on the matter said. During a conference call with Mr. Jiampietro and two higher-ranking Goldman executives, Mr. Bansal circulated an email with a spreadsheet attached. The email apparently set off alarms within Goldman. Within hours, the bank opened an internal investigation and alerted the New York Fed.

 

Goldman determined that the spreadsheet contained confidential bank supervisory information. Federal and state rules classify certain records, including those generated during bank exams, as confidential. Unless the Federal Reserve provides special approval, it can be a federal crime to share them outside the Fed.

Of course, had the Segarra story not resurfaced, Bansal would still be at Goldman.

As for the leaker at the NY Fed, we know this: "Some of Mr. Bansal’s information, the lawyers said, may have come from Jason Gross, who worked at the New York Fed at the time."

*  *  *

And now, a year after Carmen Segarra's whistleblowing over The New York Fed's regulatory capture by Goldman Sachs - amid 47.5 hours of secretly recorded tapes, a rare criminal action on Wall Street appears imminent, as The New York Times reports, against a former Goldman Sachs banker suspected of taking confidential documents from a source inside the government...

The banker and his source, who at the time of the leak was an employee at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, one of Goldman’s regulators, might plead guilty to misdemeanor theft charges rather than fight the case at trial, according to lawyers briefed on the matter who were not authorized to discuss private deliberations. The men, who were both fired in the wake of the leak, would face up to a year in prison if they accept the plea deals.

 

In a statement, a Goldman spokesman emphasized that the banker worked for the firm for less than three months, and that the bank “immediately began an investigation and notified the appropriate regulators” once it detected the leak. Nonetheless, the bank is expected to pay a significant price for the leak.

 

Under a tentative deal with New York State’s financial regulator, the lawyers said, Goldman would pay a fine of $50 million and face new restrictions on how it handled delicate regulatory information. The settlement would also force Goldman to take the rare step of acknowledging that it failed to adequately supervise the former banker - thrusting the bank back into the spotlight just as it was shedding a popular image as a firm willing to cut corners to turn a profit.

For Goldman and the New York Fed, the charges will give new life to an embarrassing episode that illustrated the blurred lines between their institutions. Perhaps more than any other bank, Goldman swaps employees with the government, earning it the nickname “Government Sachs.”

If the plea is accepted, Goldman Sachs would face new restrictions on handling regulatory information and would acknowledge failure to supervise staff adequately...

In addition to the fine, and the admission that it failed to supervise Mr. Bansal, Goldman will accept a three-year suspension from conducting certain consulting deals with banks in New York State. The prohibition denies Goldman a special privilege — legally accessing confidential information about a banking client with permission from regulators. Goldman, though, has rarely if ever done consulting deals that require such information, one of the lawyers briefed on the matter said, so that aspect of the deal is unlikely to dent the bank’s business.

As The New York Times concludes,

In a statement, the Goldman spokesman, Michael DuVally, said that the bank had “reviewed our policies regarding hiring from governmental institutions and have implemented changes to make them appropriately robust.”

 

Bruce Barket, a lawyer for Mr. Gross, said, “We have a meritorious legal argument that my client did not violate federal law,” and added that even if prosecutors disagreed, “it would be a relatively minor infraction by a young man who we think would be a deserving candidate of a nonprosecution agreement.”

 

Scott Morvillo, a lawyer for Mr. Bansal, declined to comment.

Finally, as one ponders this action in light of the 74 years in jail given to Icelandic bankers, it is rare that a Wall Street banker faces criminal charges. After the financial crisis, not one Wall Street chief executive was charged, and prosecutors have charged bankers or traders in only a handful of investigations.

*  *  *

As we previously noted, Bill Dudley (President of The New York Fed)'s defense (not denial) so far:

Mr. Dudley in 2013 unnerved some Wall Street executives when he said he saw “evidence of deep-seated cultural and ethical failures at many large financial institutions.”

 

"We understand the risks of doing our job poorly and of becoming too close to the firms we supervise. Of course, we are not perfect. We sometimes make mistakes."

But how are we to believe in the central planners' omnipotence if they keep 'making mistakes'?

Here is William Dudley, formerly of Goldman Sachs and president of the New York Fed, saying "I don’t think anyone should question our motives." It may have been an order.

 

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Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:07 | 6712223 Elliott Eldrich
Elliott Eldrich's picture

Oh, I'm quite sure the government will give Goldman a very serious wrist slapping...

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:23 | 6712239 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture

 

 

“...evidence of deep-seated cultural and ethical failures at many large financial institutions.”

Like the fact that The Federal Reserve Bank is responsible for supervising and regulating the very same banks that own and control it? 

The Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation is responsible for the oversight of U.S. banking holding companies, foreign banking organizations operating in the U.S., and state-chartered member banks of the Federal Reserve System. The Division develops and implements safety and soundness and other regulations for these entities under Board direction and in collaboration with Reserve Banks and other domestic and international regulatory authorities. In addition, the Division supports the conduct of monetary policy by monitoring current conditions and prospective developments affecting the banking industry and financial markets more generally.

 

http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/bsrstaff.htm

Because a Conflict of Interest of this magnitude is about as big of an ethical failure as I can imagine, and our elected "representatives" don't seem too worked up about it, maybe because they are paid bribes, known as campaign contributions, by these very same Federal Reserve Bank shareholders.

A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial interest, or otherwise, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation of the individual or organization.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:24 | 6712306 remain calm
remain calm's picture

It's all well rehearsed thearter to entertain the sheeple.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:31 | 6712332 Handful of Dust
Handful of Dust's picture

There must be some mistake.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:00 | 6712494 RaceToTheBottom
RaceToTheBottom's picture

I am certain the only wrong-doer in Goldman Sacks is a 29 year old who they mistakedly hired from the FED.

Only one bad apple and he had a FED worm in him, not a Goldman worm....

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:37 | 6712641 11b40
11b40's picture

Not to mention the fact that he became a FED RES regulator at the ripe old age of 22.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:18 | 6712275 PT
PT's picture

Elliot:  They might even have to pay a fine!

Tue, 10/27/2015 - 06:53 | 6715769 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Oh, the huge manatee!

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:38 | 6712328 yrad
yrad's picture

"shedding a popular image as a firm willing to cut corners to turn a profit."

 

Cut corners.. Is that like another word for "commit total fraud"?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:27 | 6712553 PlayMoney
PlayMoney's picture

Just a cost of doing business. The govt is the top mafia boss...big money in the fines....the "BIG" for allowing the big banks to manipulate everything in site. No money in sending folk to jail.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:10 | 6712238 Ms. Erable
Ms. Erable's picture

Committing grand larceny and fraud isn't a crime, but exposing such actions is. Ain't justice grand?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:11 | 6712240 Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights's picture

You mean like the criminal IRS case? smoke and mirrors folks., If its not false criminal cases, its Guns, War, Ebola and whatever else these evil people can conjure up...all to keep your mind focused on something else while the rest burns to the ground.

 

Fakes all of them...

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:11 | 6712242 pods
pods's picture

This seems like some pretty small potatoes.  Was this the NY Fed and Goldman looking to generate some positive press?

pods

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:21 | 6712289 813kml
813kml's picture

Mr. Bansal's BJs at the last GS board meeting weren't sloppy enough.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:32 | 6712622 Pure Evil
Pure Evil's picture

To the White House stat!

Why you ask?

To receive lessons of course?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:04 | 6712510 newnormaleconomics
newnormaleconomics's picture

GS, JPM, and MS have been "cooperating" of late in plans for the next takedown target after they pull the plug on the bubble as they did in 2000-01 and 2008. This time the targets are C, BAC, DB, and BCS.

Eventually, there will be effectively one TBTE bank (gov't-sponsored hedge fund), Goldman-Morgan-Stanley, to rule us all and in the darkness bind us. 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:20 | 6712573 Meat Hammer
Meat Hammer's picture

They have to send some poor bastard to Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison every now and then to keep up the illusion of law and order on Wall St.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:34 | 6712631 Pure Evil
Pure Evil's picture

So true.

But, in the country club prisons its all consensual don't ya know.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:11 | 6712244 Dubaibanker
Dubaibanker's picture

I am sorry but God's banker cannot be punished in the most sinful country of the planet in the course of human civilization EVER!

LTFFC : Let The Fucking Farce Continue....

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:19 | 6712283 813kml
813kml's picture

Too Big to Nail.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:26 | 6712310 remain calm
remain calm's picture

I once thought that but after a bottle of mad dog in college you would be surprised the whales you can take down.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:12 | 6712246 beavertails
beavertails's picture

RICK.  I'm SHOCKED! SHOCKED! that there's gambling going on in here.  

P.S. Give my winnings in gold coins?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:12 | 6712250 Dadburnitpa
Dadburnitpa's picture

Nothing will ever change until one of these guys gets ass raped while doing time in a real prison.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:12 | 6712251 irongator
irongator's picture

One day the Proles will awaken. When they do there will be hell to pay.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:18 | 6712280 Manipulism
Manipulism's picture

No.

Until somebody wake them up and guide them to payday.

Who should this be?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:56 | 6712469 irongator
irongator's picture

The system will have to crash. The second time around, people will understand the truth about the banksters. It may take hunger. You'd be surprised what a hungry man is capable of. Good luck.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:13 | 6712258 rose1959
Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:15 | 6712262 Conax
Conax's picture

After a four year investigation and a couple million spent they will find nothing actionable went wrong here.

After all, God must be free to operate.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:15 | 6712263 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

It's all show. No GS bankster will go to jail. EVER.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:22 | 6712293 Hopeless for Change
Hopeless for Change's picture

Notice: FORMER Goldmanite.

Reminds me of the Sopranos when they whack the cop when he gets home from his own retirement party

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:32 | 6712342 Handful of Dust
Handful of Dust's picture

Banker and Wall Street Fraud ... is that now illegal in America?

 

whocouldaknowed?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:17 | 6712268 taopraxis
taopraxis's picture

Face it, these masters of the universe people are not that smart. Without inside info and "ring fenced" cartel controlled markets, they would not have a prayer of gaining the wealth and power they've acquired. What is most disturbing is that they're doing so poorly despite all of those advantages. If they were truly rich, they could spread the wealth. Stock prices are not stable wealth. Real wealth generates dividends and interest, i.e., cash flow, which is mysteriously missing.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 16:31 | 6713537 ebear
ebear's picture

The difference between an industrialist and a banker is the industrialist seeks to profit through the production of goods and services, while the banker seeks to profit as an intermediary in that process, in other words, his role is subordinate to that of the industrialist. Without the accumulated profits of the combined forces of Industry and Labor, no bank could ever exist.

The true wealth of a nation is determined by its ability to produce the things it needs to maintain its sovereignty: food, clothing, housing, transportation, communication, medicine, armaments, and so forth. The role of government, whatever its form, is to ensure the continuity of production to those ends.

Well, that's putting it simply, and how you arrive at that arrangement is anything but simple, but what IS obvious today is that the relationship has been completely inverted. Now the profits of the TBTF banks are seen as primary, and the corruption of the political process to that end is almost complete. We get the occasional show trial to maintain the illusion that government still functions in its proper role, but anyone with half a brain can see otherwise.

"But personal interest is no longer a safe criterion, if individual interests are not left to counteract and control each other. If one individual, or one class, can call in the aid of authority to ward off the effects of competition, it acquires a privilege and at the cost of the whole community; it can then make sure of profits not altogether due to the productive services rendered, but composed in part of an actual tax upon consumers for its private profit; which tax it commonly shares with the authority that thus unjustly lends its support. The legislative body has great difficulty in resisting the importunate demands for this kind of privileges; the applicants are the producers that are to benefit thereby, who can represent, with much plausibility, that their own gains are a gain to the industrious classes, and to the nation at large, their workmen and themselves being members of the industrious classes, and of the nation."

--Jean-Baptiste Say, A Treatise on Political Economy

Note that when I say "industrialist" I'm talking about anyone who applies their labor to the production of goods, which includes small businesses and individuals. Anyone with the right motivation and incentive is therefore, by definition an industrialist.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:17 | 6712270 dbTX
dbTX's picture

Tell me this isn't the case.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:19 | 6712281 undercover brother
undercover brother's picture

I take 3 things from this article:  1. $50million is chump change when you made $500m to $1B on the information.  2.  Ignorance of the law is not an excuse to break the law and any lawyer using the old "my client did not knowingly" defense is going to get hammered. 3.  This is obviously not an isolated incident.  

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 15:31 | 6713133 wstrub
wstrub's picture

deleted

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:23 | 6712297 Raymond_K._Hessel
Raymond_K._Hessel's picture

So if you look to force the Fed to provide information on to whom it gave freshly baked fiat via FOIA filing, you will be denied on the basis that the Federal Reserve System is a cartel of privately owned, closely held banks, with equitable shares unlike any other shares in that they are absolutely private and non-transferable...

But if you provide some of their analysis to a client, it's a federal crime?

 

Cute.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:24 | 6712305 gimli
gimli's picture

Move the SOB to their Icelandic branch.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:27 | 6712313 insanelysane
insanelysane's picture

"In a statement, a Goldman spokesman emphasized that the banker worked for the firm for less than three months,..."

Isn't that how it works when you shuffle employees back and forth, to and from, the FED?  

It is like a football team that picks up a player just cut by one of their upcoming opponents.  Get the information, try them out, and then get rid of them if their only "talent" was being a parrot.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:27 | 6712314 yogibear
yogibear's picture
"Bill Dudley Explains Why The New York Fed Is Not A Subsidiary Of Goldman Sachs"

Too bad everyone knows already that the Fed is really a Subsidiary of Goman Sachs

William Dudley always calls Goldman because he came from Goildman Sachs.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:22 | 6712581 PlayMoney
PlayMoney's picture

Not directly. The Fed is a subsidiary of the Tresaury....which is a subsidiary of Goldman.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:28 | 6712319 dot_bust
dot_bust's picture

The banker came to Goldman through the so-called revolving door, the symbolic portal that connects financial regulators to Wall Street. He joined in July after spending seven years as a regulator at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the government’s front line in overseeing the financial industry.

This is symbolic of the merging of government with big business and is the very definition of fascism.

The U.S. Government pretends to be Democratic but is instead fascist. Until the ties between the government and big business are completely severed, the highest echelons of power in the U.S. will continue their crime wave.

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:29 | 6712322 Dickweed Wang
Dickweed Wang's picture

The guy they are charging in this case is a nobody so for all intents and purposes this whole thing appears to be about: "See, we're doing something about crime on Wall Street.", and nothing more.  

Everyone will know that the Feds are serious and things have really changed when we see guys like Dimon and Blankfien put up on charges . . . which they richly deserve.  Don't hold your breath though.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:30 | 6712329 yogibear
yogibear's picture

William Dudley we all know your doing back-door trades to prop up stocks and help Goldman.

Good, people realize William Dudley is a soldier for Goldman Sachs. 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:32 | 6712339 yogibear
yogibear's picture

It would be a pleasure to see William Dudley in a Orange Jumpsuit doing hard time in prison.

Maybe in a just world.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:34 | 6712353 kw2012
kw2012's picture

Silly man, should have done what his colleagues do and just leave an untraceable paper copy conveniently forgotten on a desk.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:40 | 6712383 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

Meh, wake me when criminal charges are brought against the firm and then I'll know the Feds are seriously trying to do something about the rampant corruption. Otherwise this is just a smoke screen in order to look somewhat credible.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:44 | 6712391 Herodotus
Herodotus's picture

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is not a government entity.  It is a private bank.  A "staffer" at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is not a government employee. 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:45 | 6712410 yogibear
yogibear's picture

The Federal Reserve is as Federal as Federal Express. Except the Chairman is approved by the government,

Woodrow Willson may you rot in hell.

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:45 | 6712414 Grandad Grumps
Grandad Grumps's picture

Those who swear allegiance to Satan and take the benefits pay a high price.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:48 | 6712425 RealityCheque
RealityCheque's picture

"Not the feather duster, anything but the feather duster!!!"

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:49 | 6712431 Grandad Grumps
Grandad Grumps's picture

Wake me when Lloyd Blankfein and Jamie Dimon are being exhibited in stocks (not the equity kind) in Times Square.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:49 | 6712441 commishbob
commishbob's picture

A low-level junior banker gets thrown under the bus to provide the illusion of accountability by Goldman...how quaint. 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:53 | 6712457 joe90
joe90's picture

Bansai hung out to dry; smoke screen.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:55 | 6712466 Pumpkin
Pumpkin's picture

"Acted shocked, OK" 

 

"Action!"

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:59 | 6712489 Herdee
Herdee's picture

"petty theft?"eom

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:02 | 6712500 T-888
T-888's picture

1 hour community service to be served in the NY Fed mens room as a bathroom attendant; he can keep the 'tips'. 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:43 | 6712657 Pure Evil
Pure Evil's picture

Which kind?

The "tip is in the jar" or the "I'll only stick the tip in, I promise"?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:06 | 6712519 Lucky Leprachaun
Lucky Leprachaun's picture

On matters like this criminal charges usually disappear into the sand.  Isn't that Lois?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:12 | 6712541 besnook
besnook's picture

some poor goy fall guy no doubt.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:13 | 6712547 JamaicaJim
JamaicaJim's picture

We Silkwooded some folks.......

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:17 | 6712563 Meat Hammer
Meat Hammer's picture

Call that man Lee Majors cuz he's the fall guy.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:19 | 6712571 madcows
madcows's picture

Bullshit.  He'll pay a small fine and be found trading for some other criminal syndicate in less than a year.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:28 | 6712609 farmboy
farmboy's picture

Goldman can only make money based on insider trading or frontrunning.

Need proof? Look at their all star global macro hedgefund they launched several years ago that wanted to go alone.  Minus 99 % !

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:38 | 6712642 spanish inquisition
spanish inquisition's picture

I wonder if we have entered the age of fall guy crisis actors. Acting is hard to make a living. Who wouldn't take a 1 or two year contract with an exclusive starring role.

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:48 | 6712677 Griffin
Griffin's picture

In Iceland the Financial Supervisory Authority failed its job to regulate the Icelandic financial system during the boom years before the crash mostly because if there was a employee there that did his job,  the banks were quick to buy that person.

The crash itself is a indicator that shows the incompetence and corruption within this institution in the years running up to the crash.

http://en.fme.is/

The first case that was sent from the FSA to the office of Special Prosecutor was against a investigative journalist, Kristinn Hrafnsson, for breaking bank secrecy laws.

The Special Prosecutor threw this case out because it was nonsense. The FSA then tried to get the police to go after Kristinn but they refused.

 

http://larahanna.blog.is/blog/larahanna/entry/943655/?fb=1  There is a interesting interview in English in this link with Aidan White about journalism.

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:59 | 6712723 besnook
besnook's picture

greenspan famously observed that he could not believe the banks would act in their own disinterest and destroy themselves. he is either naively ignorant or fully aware of what he helped accomplish.

the banking crash of '08 is a textbook example of why the free market is so dangerous without regulation, libertarianism and laissezfaire do not work in practice. they always end up in criminal hands, besnook's law of people. bad people replace good people until bad people run the show into collapse.

iceland is still the only country that applied its laws to prosecute the people criminals. the rest of the world is still lawless.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 15:25 | 6713107 KCMLO
KCMLO's picture

Can't say I agree with you at all.  True free markets wouldn't be signaling to these asshole bankers for years that their collapse was backstopped by the government.  If the market was free could they loot as effectively?  Maybe.  Would they go to jail for fraud?  Almost certainly.  Regulations don't tell you how to play by the rules, they tell you how much you can cheat.

I was astonished when my wife, an environmental engineer, explained how the EPA operated.  Long story but suffice it to say, EPA emissions standards were more of a target and less of a limit.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 16:30 | 6713523 besnook
besnook's picture

you should follow the fda decision making process....and my doctor wonders why i won't take meds.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 15:50 | 6713260 moneybots
moneybots's picture

"greenspan famously observed that he could not believe the banks would act in their own disinterest and destroy themselves. he is either naively ignorant or fully aware of what he helped accomplish."

Pull handle number 2.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:08 | 6712761 Mewa
Mewa's picture

DOJ is going after this guy's supply of twinkies.....Yellen is creating smoke and mirrors....

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:44 | 6712949 r0mulus
r0mulus's picture

Only a 50 million dollar fine for a company billions in assets and trillions in notional derivative holdings?

"Hey guys- we're booking record profits while the real economy is dying. Better pre-empitvely hang ourselves in the town square. Don't worry though, we'll make sure it looks and sounds really bad. And, better yet, we can subtract these fines from net income when doing our company's taxes."

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:54 | 6712988 Paracelsus
Paracelsus's picture

Putin kicks ass in Syria in one month,making the West look incompetent....

Iceland puts Bankers in jail making the DOJ (Holder) look totally compromised....

The refugee flood approaching biblical proportions,attempting entry into Europe,

will be the end of open borders Europe.

You just can't make this sh#t up.....

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 15:46 | 6713230 moneybots
moneybots's picture

Here is William Dudley, formerly of Goldman Sachs and president of the New York Fed, saying "I don’t think anyone should question our motives."

 

I see no reason not to question your motives.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 19:17 | 6714343 MaxThrust
MaxThrust's picture

This bansal is not a member of the tribe, therefore the probability of this action being theater for the masses is about 90%

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 19:21 | 6714361 honestann
honestann's picture

This whole story feels like a fiction created out of thin air to get Yellen and other [higher-level] predators at the federal reserve off the hook.

Tue, 10/27/2015 - 00:09 | 6715401 onmail1
onmail1's picture

Jamie got away with a fine & saved himself from jail.

Goldman cabal will too,

Rich capitalist cabal banksters own the USA govt. , CIA, FBI , et al as their puppets

& decide policies of Satan USA i.e.

toppling govt for profit

waging wars for profit

&

paying 700 million $ bribes 

They are the real enemies of human race who think that they are the Transformers

Decepticons

(btw they own the Hollywood too)

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