1. Goldman can be fined under civil law but does not have to admit to its fraud. Goldman is prepared for such contingencies by putting aside each year a few billions for litigation that it expects as a "cost of doing business;"
2. Any case against Goldman can be dismissed because no law can be found under which to prosecute even when their actions are described as unethical and immoral.
That is what the Rule of Law now amounts too. Goldman Sachs has, in effect, made the laws that suit banking through lobbying, by positioning its guys into government positions to direct, promote and make policy and rules, and by paying atrocious amounts of money to political campaigns. Goldman may even provide a few of its own politicians to run in elections!
Banking has become the major part of the economy and financialization makes up 40% of the GDP. We do not know how this situation will end but it will not be pleasant for the 99% whose earnings are stagnant, whose unions are being reduced and who are slowly becoming debt slaves to the 1%.
The latest justice boondoggle is the dismissal of a lawsuit accusing Goldman Sachs's Blankfein for creating pools of sub-prime mortgages sold to investors as safe investments that became junk. Blankfein was also accused of paying back TARP funds early so as not to interfere with high bonus payments to executives, including himself.
The judge put Goldman on notice of "broken controls."
Really? That's all! When Goldman misrepresented its toxic products (i.e., committed fraud), when it robo-signed (i.e., committed forgery) "lost" documents to ensure the foreclosure process would proceed and then when they bet against the mortgage market that it had just suckered--that's only called "broken controls?"
See the article here
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Another reaction:
Senator Carl Levin is Very Pissed Off: No Prosecution of Goldman Sachs. . . .While the Senator is most definitely miff'd beyond the norm; his solution lacks equality to his angst. Senator Carl Levin proposes to increase the strength & reach of Dodd Frank. Like that's really worked well thus far (I know, my cynicism is gigantic - but those of you who have followed - are well aware why).Be that as it may - here's Senator Levin's full remarks and his website link;
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Sen. Levin Statement on DOJ Announcement on Goldman Sachs
WASHINGTON – Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., issued the following statement on the Department of Justice’s announcement regarding Goldman Sachs:Our investigation of the origins of the financial crisis revealed wrongdoing and failures among mortgage lenders, banking regulators, credit rating agencies and investment banks. One of those investment banks, Goldman Sachs, created complex securities that included “junk” from its own inventory that it wanted to get rid of. It misled investors by claiming its interests in those securities were “aligned” with theirs while at the same time it was betting heavily against those same securities, and therefore against its own clients, to its own substantial profit. Its actions did immense harm to its clients, and helped create the financial crisis that nearly plunged us into a second Great Depression.“Those are the facts the subcommittee found. Whether the decision by the Department of Justice is the product of weak laws or weak enforcement, Goldman Sachs’ actions were deceptive and immoral. That’s why I and others fought so hard to include tough new conflict-of-interest provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, to help ensure that Wall Street could no longer engage in such blatant behavior.
“Yesterday’s announcement makes it even more important that regulators implement Dodd-Frank with rules that do not water down it down, and that they enforce those rules with vigor. The integrity of our financial markets and the strength of our economy demand that we make sure that actions such as Goldman Sachs’ and other recently discovered misdeeds by financial institutions are ended.”
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