Bank Corruption, Again This time J.P. Morgan/Chase, AGAIN
J.P. MORGAN BANK CORRUPTION CASE IN CHINA AND USA
With an upcoming $264 million legal settlement, there is tacit understanding that this was a form of foreign bribery. If past actions hold true, no individual with the bank guilty of these crimes will go to jail. The bank will simply "buy" its way out.
Now, we must understand that the laws that are broken in this case are U.S. regulations. International bribery is illegal.
The illegal activities were done through a program called the "Sons and Daughters program."
According to public reports, there was ample evidence connecting the hiring to specific business negotiations. Officials in China and the USA refused to comment for fear of the publicity and a backlash of confidence in the bank.
J.P. Morgan has had other lapses in legal compliance, with trading scandal fines of $13 billion with the U.S. justice department and an unethical sale of mortgage securities which were part of the recession caused by the 2008 financial crisis near the end of the George W. Bush administration.
Americans must appreciate the Obama presidency and his leadership in prosecution and exposure of illegal activities by financial giants, many centered on Wall Street. Note the photograph, where a law officer is there to guard people from robbers.
Ernst Diener, a bank expert, has said, with irony, "If these cases continue, legal guards may be necessary at big banks to protect bank customers from being cheated by the bankers."
In this case, fines included:
- U.S. attorney's office, and justice department: $70,000,000 penalty for JP Morgan
- S.E.C. fine: $130,000,000.
- Federal Reserve: $62,000,000.
- No officers or individuals of the bank will have criminal prosecution, a non-prosecution agreement on individuals is in place.
Both the Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump presidential campaigns expressed unhappy comments that no individuals have been charged in the numerous cases of illegal activities by Wall Street and big banks in these types of cases. It seems to illustrate the moral and ethical lapses of the "bigger is better" concept of business and implicitly calls for tighter regulation, since these giant banks seem unable or unwilling to regulate themselves. Note our article on "repeat offenders" at Repeat Bank Offenders.
We wait to see how other giant banks will do under closer review by regulators and can only hope that the Trump Administration will keep an eye on organizations such as:
Bank of America
CitiBank
Deutsche Bank
Goldman Sachs
HSBC
Wells Fargo
WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY? Anyone who does international business knows that there is a law called the FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT that makes it illegal to give bribes to foreign officials in exchange for improper advantage in business.
We at BootheGlobalPerspectives have repeatedly reported that the American people are frankly angry and tired of the "fat cats" and big banks who seem to break the law with impunity, while they charge exorbitant rates and have strict collection and legal practices giving citizens a hard time if they become late or cannot pay loans promptly. Individual American businessmen and businesswomen, cannot afford to "buy themselves out" of legal violations like the big boys do. Indeed, 99 percent of American businesses would never engage in the illegal activities that the giant banks have demonstrated. Every time another story of corruption comes to light, Americans become less trustful of the banking system. Unfortunately, the entire banking system is based on confidence. These "giant criminals" do much to undermine the financial system.