At long last! More than two years after the markets imploded, we might be about to see prosecutions of the big banks that brought the global economy to its knees.
Shahien Nasiripour has the scoop at the Huffington Post that the panel appointed by Congress to investigate the financial crisis has concluded that several financial industry figures appear to have broken the law. As a result, it has referred cases to state or federal authorities for potential prosecution.
Nasiripour has not seen the report and is basing his story on briefings from sources, but if he is right, this could tie up the US courts for years. We are likely to see civil prosecutions but criminal proceedings can't be ruled out. But it could take another few years before we see any justice.
It will be worth the wait. Banks were offering sub standard loans to people who didn't have a chance of repaying them and they knew all along that the mortgages they had purchased from other firms and then sold to investors were "defective". In other words, they were misleading investors, and making a killing out of it. It's time to bring the banksters to account.
I was actually surprised the panel got this far, given the political climate in the United States at the moment where people are walking around shooting politicians. Still, it's one of the most positive developments coming out of the US for some time.
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