It seems like...just a week ago that I wrote about a proposed slap-on-the-wristfor Standard & Poor's. Ah, and it's the gift that keeps on giving. But, this one may give a new twist to the absurd world in which these guys in the executive suites of Wall Street and the financial world commit crimes, never pay for those crimes, keep their jobs, continue to get huge pay and benefits, sock the shareholders/customers with the cost of paying miniscule fines...and never admit to the crimes.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services could strike a $1.37 billion deal as early as Thursday resolving government allegations that it knowingly issued rosy grades of mortgages before the 2008 financial crisis, according to people familiar with the situation.
An agreement isn’t yet final, but the Justice Department is expected to receive about $687 million, while more than 12 states as a group would get a similar total, the people said. California is expected to receive more than $100 million, while most other states would receive between $20 million to $25 million, the people said.
A deal would resolve a 2013 Justice Department lawsuit accusing S&P of misleading investors with inflated grades of residential mortgage bonds that turned out to be inaccurate. Eventually, attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia made similar accusations in separate cases.
Ok, so, we already know this story: no jail time for the big fish, a few little fish get convicted and
the bankers laugh all the way to the bank. And, remember, this in a company whose racket was, as an Australian court found, built around
a culture that “deceived” and “mislead” investors.
And, you know this usual rap in these deals: no one ever has to admit guilt. Sure, pay some fine--a fine that will be paid by shareholders and customers (in the case of banks, in particular, in the form of higher fees) but this is the part that is really worthy of a farce:
S&P, a unit of McGraw Hill Financial Inc., won’t admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but it will agree to a statement outlining its actions, the people said. S&P has been adamant that it not admit wrongdoing for violating any laws over fears that doing so would expose it to future litigation, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking. [emphasis added]
Jon Stewart, this is made for you. [voice of ya know a mobster type]: "look, you know, yeah, Stevie comes in one day with these awful mortgage deals, we laugh til we're pissin' our pants, we drink a few shots and, then, we give the AAA rating. No problem. Yeah, it was fraud, illegal. But, hey we didn't do anything."
It's the new criminal defense. I can see it now, the new cool detective show, featuring:
Serial Killer: "well, sorry, I'm not admitting any guilt but no problem I'll do an S&P for you--I cut the throats of those 35 people, drank their blood, boiled their skin...well, you get picture. Happy to outline those actions but I'm not admitting to anything or spending a day in the slammer."
Ah, American justice.