If we had a functioning legal system, the top people at JPMorgan would have been indicted long ago. Instead the company pays fines for offenses that most of us would go to prison for. The government fines them, the company promises to be good, and nothing changes. This cynical and pitiful charade is little more than a protection racket. The banks do whatever they want. the government pretends to be vigilant, then fines the banks instead of filing criminal indictments.
“The bank connected the dots when it mattered to its own profit but was not so diligent when it came to its legal obligations,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said at a press conference.
Here’s some dots to connect, Mr. Bharara. Criminal behavior requires criminal indictments. Anything less is simply proof of a captured government and incompetent or worse prosecution.