http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/12/bill-black-a-jihadist-against-the-banks.html
You cannot make this stuff up. This Real News Network segment features Bill Black discussing, based on his first-hand experience of having the Department of Justice attempting to quash Black’s expert witness testimony in a fraud case because Black is a “jihadist” against banks. Since when is calling out fraud tantamount to conducting a religious war? Only if you are a devout adherent of cult of elite finance.
I had lunch with a prominent journalist yesterday who told me how much more difficult it has become over time to do intrepid reporting about major financial firms. Led by the major PR firms, they fight tooth an nail over every point in a story, even inconsequential ones. This is similar to the “take no prisoners” strategy banks adopt in regulatory fights, where every issue is contested, so as to establish the baseline than any change that is even slightly unfavorable to their interest is deemed to be an offense. The intent is not just to wear down the other side, but to get the ones that are already captured or are co-optable to internalize that viewpoint. As this Real News Network story demonstrates, that approach appears to have succeeded in spades at the Department of Justice.
I hope readers will circulate this Real News Network segment on Bill Black widely.
Video:
From the interview:
But put that aside. Every big bank goes into these negotiations knowing one thing for sure, and that is the Justice Department will never impose a fine significant enough to cause the slightest chance that the bank might get into economic trouble. Because that’s what the Justice Department is scared to death of. And therefore all of these settlements relative to the size of the bank are trivial. And the proof is in the pudding in virtually every case. And I say virtually just to protect myself. In every case that I’ve looked at, the stock price rose when the settlement was announced.
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