Senators question Justice Dept. on big bank probes
Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:49 pmSenators question Justice Dept. on big bank probes
from MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Two senators - a Democrat and a Republican - on Tuesday questioned the Department of Justice about whether the powerful status of large Wall Street financial institutions makes it difficult to prosecute wrongdoing and impose appropriate penalties. "Wall Street megabanks aren't just too big to fail, they're increasingly too big to jail," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, democrat of Ohio, in a statement. Brown and Sen. Chuck Grassley, republican of Iowa, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder arguing that many settlements between large banks and the federal government involve penalties that are "disproportionately low." They also said that the nature of the settlements has raised concerns that big banks "enjoy a favored status in statute and in enforcement policy." Grassley said there has been little willingness to charge individuals involved in the financial crisis criminally. He added that the public deserves an explanation for how the Justice Department arrives at these decisions.
from MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Two senators - a Democrat and a Republican - on Tuesday questioned the Department of Justice about whether the powerful status of large Wall Street financial institutions makes it difficult to prosecute wrongdoing and impose appropriate penalties. "Wall Street megabanks aren't just too big to fail, they're increasingly too big to jail," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, democrat of Ohio, in a statement. Brown and Sen. Chuck Grassley, republican of Iowa, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder arguing that many settlements between large banks and the federal government involve penalties that are "disproportionately low." They also said that the nature of the settlements has raised concerns that big banks "enjoy a favored status in statute and in enforcement policy." Grassley said there has been little willingness to charge individuals involved in the financial crisis criminally. He added that the public deserves an explanation for how the Justice Department arrives at these decisions.