Above Photo: From DailyKos.com
Well, you can’t say Bernie’s candidacy has had no impact.
Phil Angelides was state treasurer of California for a number of years*, and in 2006 he ran for governor against Arnold Schwarznegger. In 2009, he was named chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The commission produced a report outlining the causes of the crisis. It has sometimes been compared to the Pecora Commission.
He wrote an piece at the Huffington Post a few days ago – Last Chance for Justice:
Five years ago at this time, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) presented the President and Congress with its final report on what caused the 2008 financial meltdown that devastated our economy and millions of American families. The report concluded that the financial crisis was avoidable and was caused by widespread failures of regulation, reckless risk taking on Wall Street, and a systematic breakdown in ethics and accountability.
[…]
Citing this evidence, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and DOJ have obtained more than $36 billion in fines from 18 major financial institutions, including banks like JP Morgan and Bank of America.
However, stunningly, not one individual has been indicted or charged civilly for the conduct that resulted in these massive fines. If the banks engaged in such egregious misconduct so as to warrant tens of billions of dollars in fines, then certainly bankers were involved. DOJ must now conduct a thorough inquiry up the chain of command at each of the big banks to determine who specifically was responsible for the conduct that DOJ itself has said “sowed the seeds of the financial meltdown.”
Angelides wrote a letter to the Department of Justice about this lack of prosecution. In the letter he points out that some of the crucial activity the commission uncovered happened in 2006/2007 and the 10 year statute of limitations is about to run out.
It seems like some in the Democratic party have sensed the winds change as Bernie brings this issue to the fore.
The Financial Times just published an interview with Angelides today where he says:
“I ask a simple question: how could the banks have engaged in such massive misconduct and wrongdoing without a single individual being involved? In a sense, it’s the immaculate corruption,” he told the FT. “It defies common sense, and the people of America know this.”
A letter to the DoJ won’t do much on its own. But every senior person in the industry reads the FT, so this may get their attention:
“Someone conducted this behaviour, someone approved this behaviour, and I think what is required is a bottom-to-top inquiry at each of these institutions as to who knew what, and who sanctioned this material representation,” said Mr Angelides.
“Frankly, the small fry, the mice have been prosecuted but not yet one lion. And it breeds a great amount of cynicism and anger about the nature of our judicial system.”
Very, very few of our senior political representatives were asking this question before Bernie ran for president. Then people began paying attention to what he was saying and had been saying for years. So I guess Bernie is having a small impact on how people see things.
As someone who works in the industry, I take it as a personal affront that industry professionals who made false representations to customers, regulators and their peers when originating, packaging and selling mortgages have not been prosecuted. I’m glad Bernie’s preaching on this subject is having an impact.
* PS. I’ve followed Angelides for a parochial industry reason. During his tenure, he implemented various Socially Responsible Investing practices at Calpers (the giant pension fund for California government employees). That led to divestment from tobacco companies, Sudan and other countries with weak labor laws or enforcement. It’s an area I’m interested in, along with the impact it has on performance. Angelides was criticized for fund under-performance after those decisions.