Mary Kreiner Ramirez

The Case for the Corporate Death Penalty: Restoring Law and Order on Wall Street by Mary Kreiner Ramirez and Steven A Ramirez is a detailed investigation of the 2008 financial meltdown. Mary Kreiner Ramirez is Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law, where she teaches a course on White Collar Crime. She is a former prosecutor for the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, where she prosecuted white-collar criminals. She has published numerous articles addressing the challenges in combating white collar crime. Steven A. Ramirez is Professor of Law and Associate Dean at Loyola University of Chicago, where he also directs the Business and Corporate Governance Law Center.

It was pretty difficult to miss the effects of the fraud and associated crime with the housing loan crisis. “Too big to fail” was thrown around with little thought of history. Still, major financial corporations failed and went bankrupt. There was a building with the AIG logo on it that I passed every day going to work then one morning the logo was gone, overnight. Bank of America, Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers were about to come crashing down dragging the US and the World economy with them.

The authors start with an introduction to other recent financial crimes. Enron’s fall and the fraud trials for Lay and Skilling brought some serious charges to trial. With the trial, evidence was actually brought to court and the justice system was used to verify the evidence. Court records are used as proof of the crimes. This lead to the disappearance of Enron and Arthur Andersen.

The 2008 financial crisis was far more criminal from the information presented. The problem, however, is the lack of criminal charges and trials. To the public, what happened to banking leaders was even more deplorable. Not only were there no charges, many executives walked away with bonuses while the foreclosure epidemic would drain over four trillion dollars from the economy. It became the financial equivalent of Stalin’s "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic." Rob one man and it’s a crime. Rob millions and it’s a statistic... deserving a bailout.

The authors wanted to build a case based on court records but that just cannot be done. Perhaps the only thing worse than the fraud and financial crimes is the lack of prosecution. Politically connected Kenneth Lay did go to court and was found guilty. He faced up to forty-five years in prison before his death. The 2008 crisis shows the closeness of government agencies and the financial industry. People move freely taking positions in both spheres. That closeness the financial industry and the people who regulate it would not be allowed elsewhere. It boils down to money is power and power is money.

The authors take what would be dry financial information and even drier legalistic thinking and combine it into a very intriguing look at possibly the most devastating economic failures. The Case for the Corporate Death Penalty shows the reader that not only does crime pay, it pays very well at the expense of everyone else.

… (plus d'informations)

Surprise! Big crime is a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card

The financial crisis reeked. A rotten and corrupt banking system was allowed free reign by planting bankers throughout government, where they made and changed laws to their advantage before returning to their banks. But that wasn’t enough. They had to lie, misinform and scheme their way anyway. They bankrupted pension funds, caused millions to fall into financial straits to the point of losing their homes, and ripped each other off while they were at it. And they’re all still there, still doing it.

It was and is all a sham. The Federal Reserve does not work for us, it works for itself. Essentially everyone there hopes to be swept away with a job offer from a major bank at 25 times the pay. They aren’t going to do anything to ruin their chances. Everyone is beholden to the central bank, and will do nothing to pierce its armor of independence, laws or no laws, justice or no justice. Much the same can be said of the SEC, which will go after small companies, but not the big banks. The banks pay too well, from speaking gigs to donations, to be jostled like that. And of course politicians and their parties depend heavily on the largesse of banks and bankers to fund their campaigns. The speaking fees and directorships keep everyone in place.

Possibly the biggest crime of the 2008 financial crisis is the total refusal of the justice department to prosecute anyone. A busload of eyewitness whistleblowers haven’t changed its mind. Nor have truckloads of e-mails and congressional testimony. The department has gone out of its way to ensure banks and bankers continue their ways, regardless of clear evidence of criminal activity. It literally issues passes, say the Ramirezes.

With such disciplined rule of law, think they might try it again someday? Well, the fraud continues to grow, as shown in the foreclosure frauds, the MF Global funds disappearance, the manipulation of LIBOR, and the money laundering at HSBC, among others. Still no criminal prosecutions, though.

The book ends with pages of recommendations for patches. All pointless, as the authors themselves claim throughout the book that current laws are more than sufficient to handle these kinds of cases. And they demonstrate it on every page. Their most important claim is that firms should and must be put out of business if their modus operandi is criminal. When it does happen, it has utterly no effect on the economy. Too big to fail is yet another fraud.

The only real conclusion I could come to from reading The Case for the Corporate Death Penalty is that Eric Holder was the worst Attorney General in US history. And his successor Loretta Lynch is no better. She shows utterly no interest in carrying out her sworn duties, even though the statute of limitations has not run out on these documented frauds. No one is cowering in fear of the knock on the door. The same cast of characters is too busy racking up bonuses.

David Wineberg… (plus d'informations)