What is it with these people? The banking class seems to forget how we got into this mess and who is primarily responsible. Wholesale stripping away of the rules of the road –read banking regulations–over the last few decades opened the doors to unbelievable levels of greed.
Now that the rather mild (after the lobbyists beat it down) Dodd-Frank Act is in place, they are whining about too much regulation. In truth that unregulated playground where greed-monger bankers frolicked, it’s still open. They are playing the same game with reckless abandon. While the law says we won’t bail them out again, they know we can not allow “too-big-to-fail” banks to fail.
The mere mention of restraint triggers an explosive response. Take the reports leaked from a meeting of the Financial Stability Forum in Washington. Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada, endured a hissy fit from JP Morgan Chase Honcho, Jamie Dimon. Dimon found suggested changes to the Basel III banking standards, “anti-American.”
When banks like Chase were fighting for their lives and begging our taxpayers to bail them out, Canada’s banks were fine. Carney’s response to Dimon’s attack was measured: "If some institutions feel pressure today, it is because they have done too little for too long, rather than because they are being asked to do too much, too soon." Based on sixteen attributes worldwide, 42,000+ respondents to The Reputation Institute's 2011 annual study ranked Canada #1. Is it any wonder the US came in 23rd – behind even Greece?
It’s not as though JP Morgan Chase is a “Poster Child.” They are mired in a smarmy Jefferson County, Alabama bribery mess where political types have been convicted of pocketing $8 million. Birmingham’s mayor went down for taking $235,000. As part of the settlement, Chase eats $647 million in fees, pays Jefferson County $50 million, plus a $25 million SEC penalty. This does the county little good; it is still drowning in over $3 billion in derivative based financial instruments.
The ethical no-man’s-land JP Morgan Chase seems to inhabit extends to our fighting men and women as well. The law is crystal clear when it comes to mortgage holders and the military. But, Chase may have missed that memo. In just one case, a Marine captain flying F-18 missions overseas suffered an ongoing nightmare. He and his wife did everything right. To their surprise Chase ignored their on-time mortgage payments, began foreclosure proceedings, and set collection agency dogs on them. The captain’s wife was raising their small children on her own, one with health issues, all the while the Chase collection goons are ringing her telephone around the clock.
When Chase finally recognized the string of goof-ups on the military that included the Marine Captain, a mid-level banker apologized. That – is – pathetic! JP Morgan Chase and its spoiled brat CEO, Jamie Dimon, that’s who is “anti-American” in this sad tale.
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