Welcome to the United States, where bad bankers create catastrophic bubbles while leading the Federal Reserve then deny their responsibility later.
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Iceland put top finance executives behind bars, but fears of cronyism remain
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Re: Iceland put top finance executives behind bars, but fears of cronyism remain
#12Just to clarify, They were sent to prison for "market manipulation and fraud" which are crimes in many places, not just Iceland. They weren't sent to prison for being "bad bankers" which isn't a crime in Iceland or anywhere else.
Yes. Just look at all those bankers that went to prison for 30+ years of manipulating LIBOR. Well one banker anyway. And all those bankers that went to prison for reps and warranty fraud on synthetic CDOs. Well no bankers anyway.
This is clearly a dog bites man story about something that happens all over.
Re: Iceland put top finance executives behind bars, but fears of cronyism remain
#13Why should Iceland bankers have gone to prison? For taking money from British depositors and investing it in the Spanish housing bubble? Let the British send their bankers to prison.
Well, Fred the Shred had his "Sir" removed - which is pretty harsh by UK standards.
But he still has 24x7 police protection at levels similar to the Royal Family. His house was removed from Google Maps - which seems silly as you just look for the obscured house on the street (why do people do that???).
UK bankers were arguably key to the creation and implosion of the worldwide banking system but are already back to obscene bonus levels and see the taxpayer bailouts as a just reward to ensure their opulent and obscene lifestyles.
I'd happily have my 'Sir' title removed and be left with the money and have police officers guarding me 24x7 to ensure I can enjoy my ill-gotten gains. And if the media tries to publish anything about me, then I can go get a super-injunction to make it illegal to even say I got an injunction ! (http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/mar/10/fred-goodwin...)
Re: Iceland put top finance executives behind bars, but fears of cronyism remain
#14[deleted]
Re: Iceland put top finance executives behind bars, but fears of cronyism remain
#15They're allowed to browse the Internet and go to the Gym? Sounds better than most hotels I've been.
Re: Iceland put top finance executives behind bars, but fears of cronyism remain
#16Exactly, the problem has got worse.
Banks are larger and more centralised, the offenders unpunished know they can act with impunity, legislation is unchanged.
Banking/ finance types now know that if they are losing money they must simply lose big enough to trigger more bailouts and the taxpayer pays.
This is despotic anti-capitalism: they keep the winnings and losses are generational debt on which they again profit.
The only ways that have ever worked to inject capital is to pay the poor and middle class by national infrastructure projects or GWBush style $1000 cheques - everyone benefits as money circulates.
Keynsian economics got this right.
Banks and the rich largely hoard capital where it is useless, pretending risk aversion when it was outright fraud that caused the econopocalypse, not risky but legitimate loans to business.
This will happen again unless investment and savings banks are again separated, but no nation wants to do it unilaterally fearing an exodus of non-dom capital they use to cook the government figures.
Finance is rotten to its core.
Quantative easing is bailouts by the backdoor.
Austerity stagnates an economy.
Re: Iceland put top finance executives behind bars, but fears of cronyism remain
#17They're allowed to browse the Internet and go to the Gym? Sounds better than most hotels I've been.
Are you saying that life in a prison should be worse than living in a budget hotel? Why?
Re: Iceland put top finance executives behind bars, but fears of cronyism remain
#18Now please continue with the rest. Deutsche Bank anyone?
Re: Iceland put top finance executives behind bars, but fears of cronyism remain
#19"They spend their days doing laundry, working out in the gym and browsing the Internet."
Hard time. Or as my wife calls it, time.
Badum tisch.
Re: Iceland put top finance executives behind bars, but fears of cronyism remain
#20Just to clarify, They were sent to prison for "market manipulation and fraud" which are crimes in many places, not just Iceland. They weren't sent to prison for being "bad bankers" which isn't a crime in Iceland or anywhere else.
Yes. Just look at all those bankers that went to prison for 30+ years of manipulating LIBOR. Well one banker anyway. And all those bankers that went to prison for reps and warranty fraud on synthetic CDOs. Well no bankers anyway. This is clearly a dog bites man story about something that happens all over.
>Well no bankers anyway.
Please point to the convictions. We don't throw people in jail because we don't like their business practices.
The idea that the government wasn't absolutely salivating at the opportunity to throw some bankers in jail is one of the funniest things I read on the internet. People don't seem to understand that the government and banking industry are often at odds on many things. Of course, often these are the same people who interpret things like TARP as a "gift" to the banks.