Danny Schechter writes for the Disinformation site (disinfo.com) the gap between convincing evidence a second economic meltdown looms on the horizon and Congress is unwilling to take action to prevent it is rapidly yawning.
http://www.disinfo.com/2010/03/what-are-they-waiting-for-whither-financial-reforms-fears-of-a-second-crash-are-real-but-congress-lacks-%e2%80%9cappetite%e2%80%9d-for-action/
In his March 6 piece Schechter details some of the court cases and awards that have resulted from corporate negligence that helped provide the crash from which we're still currently reeling ...
All too quietly, Wall Street firms are being sued for their many transgressions. A study by Gary Null found that over $430 billion has been paid to victimized parties by Wall Street firms in over 1500 cases.
Some examples:
Bank of America has spent $14.9 billion to settle 15 cases alleging various charges such as securities violations and mismanagement;
Citigroup has spent over $13.9 billion to settle 12 cases alleging various charges including abusive lending practices and involvement in fraudulent activities;
Merrill Lynch has spent $12.2 billion to settle cases involving various allegations including negligence and mismanagement of funds;
Morgan Stanley has spent over $5 billion to settle 11 cases involving various allegations including failure to disclose material information to customers;
Wachovia has spent over $9.5 billion to resolve allegations including misleading investors and conflicts of interest;
UBS has spent $19.5 billion to settle 6 cases with various charges including misleading investors.
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