For four years the financial industry has successfully lobbied to water down and delay the new regulations. The previously too big to fail financial firms have become even larger and more ominous through mergers suggested and abetted by the regulators as part of the rescue effort from the 2008 crisis. No one has gone to jail, most of the same ‘masters of the universe’ that ran the firms before are still running them (and still drawing down unconscionable salaries and bonuses).
We were shocked to read the other day that the 5-year statute of limitations for the SEC to bring charges related to the 2008 meltdown will soon run out, and SEC officials are ‘concerned’ that they won’t make the deadline on some cases on which they supposedly want to file suits.
The costs of the 2008-2009 bailout that prevented the country from plunging into another Great Depression, are still hanging over the rest of us in the form of a weak economy, record government debt, record budget deficits, and the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ to be faced in 2013.
So, is the financial industry ashamed of its former activities and pitching in to help? No sign of that.
The latest scandal is the manipulation of the Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate). And it’s a beauty.
The Libor influences hundreds of trillions in financial contracts around the world, including mortgages, corporate loans, loans to individuals, and interest-rate swaps. The 16 major banks that set the rate are under investigation by authorities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia, suspected of manipulating the rate.
Read more: The Banking Industry/Regulators Time-Bomb! - Business Insider
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