Regulatory agencies extracted $4.6 billion in penalties so far this year from financial industry firms found guilty of wrongdoing, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.
The record haul resulted from a few big cases. They included Telegram Group’s agreement to repay investors $1.2 billion to settle a lawsuit over the company’s sale of a cryptocurrency, and Wells Fargo’s $500-million fine to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to end actions over the bank’s fake accounts scandal.
Goldman Sachs acquiesced to a $400-million fine for its work on behalf of a corrupt Malaysian financier in what has become known as the 1MDB scandal; however, the settlement was announced after the government’s fiscal year closed. The fine will be included in 2021’s fines total.
The SEC filed only 405 actions in the fiscal year ended 30 September, a 23-percent drop from fiscal year 2019 and the fewest in six years. The agency attributed the drop to the pandemic-related shutdown, which closed courts and government offices for several weeks.
TRENDPOST: As we have long noted, over the decades, in America, as with much of the world, from Bankster Bandits to the Pharma Drug Gangs, big-time criminals get a slap on the wrist for high crimes and misdemeanors, while it’s prosecution to the fullest for “We the Peasants” of Slavelandia.
