Economist and white-collar criminologist Bill Black paraphrasing a column by Matthew Yglesias: "...it was essential, if you're going to bail out the biggest banks, that you not allow any proscecutions, because if you had allowed any proscecutions, then the banks would have been driven by proscecutions back into insolvency. ... this is even worse than blaming the victims ... you have to make sure that the victims get no recovery from the frauds, because if the victims got recovery, well, the victims suffered such massive losses, roughly $20 trillion lost in wealth, that it would bankrupt the fraudulent banks."

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February 3, 2013

Creative Finance: Leaving Felons in Charge of the Banks

Bill Black: Obama Administration following logic that to not investigate and prosecute banking fraud builds trust in the institutions
Watch full multipart The Black Financial and Fraud Report


Bio

William K. Black, author of THE BEST WAY TO ROB A BANK IS TO OWN ONE, teaches economics and law at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC). He was the Executive Director of the Institute for Fraud Prevention from 2005-2007. He has taught previously at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and at Santa Clara University, where he was also the distinguished scholar in residence for insurance law and a visiting scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Black was litigation director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, deputy director of the FSLIC, SVP and general counsel of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and senior deputy chief counsel, Office of Thrift Supervision. He was deputy director of the National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement. Black developed the concept of "control fraud" frauds in which the CEO or head of state uses the entity as a "weapon." Control frauds cause greater financial losses than all other forms of property crime combined. He recently helped the World Bank develop anti-corruption initiatives and served as an expert for OFHEO in its enforcement action against Fannie Mae's former senior management.

Followup on the PBS documentary "The Untouchables"

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January 29, 2013

Obama Admin. Fails to Prosecute Banking Fraud to 'Save the System'

James S. Henry commenting on PBS documentary "The Untouchables": If one of these institutions was indicted and made an example of, it would have a profound affect on the whole industry - but Obama raises money on Wall St.
Watch full multipart Obama: Rhetoric or New Direction?


Bio

James S. Henry is a leading economist, attorney and investigative journalist who has written extensively about global issues. James served as Chief Economist at the international consultancy firm McKinsey & Co and as an investigative journalist his work has appeared in numerous publications like Forbes, The Nation, and the The New York Times. He was the lead researcher of the recently released report titled “'The Price of Offshore Revisited.'

HOW THE BIG BANKS ACCIDENTALY ON PURPOSE "LOSE" THEIR DEPOSITOR'S RETIREMENT SAVINGS AND GET AWAY WITH IT, AS TOLD BY ECONOMIST AND WHITE-COLLAR CRIMINOLOGIST BILL BLACK -- WHO SENT OVER 1,000 SAVINGS-AND-LOAN CEOs TO JAIL FOR SIMILAR CRIMES IN THE EARLY 1990s. (IT APPEARS THAT TODAY'S BANKSTERS ARE "TOO BIG TO JAIL.")

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Black Report: No Criminal Prosecution of Wall St. and Who is the European, Romney or Obama? 

Bill Black Finance and Fraud Report: Goldman and MF Global avoid criminal charges and Romney accuses of Obama of being a "European" 

Watch full multipart The Black Financial and Fraud Report:

Bio 

William K. Black, author of THE BEST WAY TO ROB A BANK IS TO OWN ONE, teaches economics and law at the University of Missouri -- Kansas City (UMKC). He was the Executive Director of the Institute for Fraud Prevention from 2005-2007. He has taught previously at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and at Santa Clara University, where he was also the distinguished scholar in residence for insurance law and a visiting scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Black was litigation director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, deputy director of the FSLIC, SVP and general counsel of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and senior deputy chief counsel, Office of Thrift Supervision. He was deputy director of the National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement. Black developed the concept of "control fraud" -- frauds in which the CEO or head of state uses the entity as a "weapon." Control frauds cause greater financial losses than all other forms of property crime combined. He recently helped the World Bank develop anti-corruption initiatives and served as an expert for OFHEO in its enforcement action against Fannie Mae's former senior management.

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#OWS Interview: Prosecute the Wall Street Mafia! Bill Black, Dylan Ratigan & David DeGraw on the Destruction of the Rule of Law

October 18th, 2011

When it comes to prosecuting the lead players involved in the fraudulent financial activities that have led to the destruction of our economy, the Obama Administration, loaded with Wall Street campaign contributions and led by major financial firm operatives such as Tim Geithner and Bill Daley, has delivered empty rhetoric and minimal action. In the absence of leadership on this critical issue, it may come down to a new proposed OccupyWallStreet Department of Justice Working Group to restore the rule of law. The proposed group will feature members such as Bill Black, a man who has a strong track record of successfully prosecuting and jailing bankers during the S&L crisis.

In this video, David DeGraw joins Bill Black on the Dylan Ratigan Show to discuss the “epidemic of fraud” and the people who need to be held personally responsible for the destruction of our economic system.