Just to play Devil’s Advocate…in the years 2007 to 2009, the banks were probably fudging with the Libor to try and avert a world-wide panic, which would have happened if everyday investors (and everybody else) had realized even earlier that they’d totally screwed the pooch (with subprime credit defaul swaps et al). In other words, they could CLAIM at that point that they were lying in a GOOD cause.
The fact that they’ve been manipulating the Libor for something like thirty years, however, makes this argument a little…shaky.
Oh well.
Well, yes, you could make a case that they were committing massive fraud in order to avert panic over a state of affairs they created themselves, by committing massive fraud in other areas of their business. When you’re too big to fail I guess you can justify fraud of any kind and on any scale to avoid failure, to the point that massive fraud becomes an integral part of your business.
“Steal a little and you throw him in jail, steal a lot and you make him King.” from a Dylan song I don’t recall the title of…and the only real Kings left are the CEOs, CFOs, etc.
As through this life you ramble
You’ll meet some funny men —
Some’ll rob you with a six-gun
And some with a fountain pen.
Just to play Devil’s Advocate…in the years 2007 to 2009, the banks were probably fudging with the Libor to try and avert a world-wide panic, which would have happened if everyday investors (and everybody else) had realized even earlier that they’d totally screwed the pooch (with subprime credit defaul swaps et al). In other words, they could CLAIM at that point that they were lying in a GOOD cause.
The fact that they’ve been manipulating the Libor for something like thirty years, however, makes this argument a little…shaky.
Oh well.
Well, yes, you could make a case that they were committing massive fraud in order to avert panic over a state of affairs they created themselves, by committing massive fraud in other areas of their business. When you’re too big to fail I guess you can justify fraud of any kind and on any scale to avoid failure, to the point that massive fraud becomes an integral part of your business.
“Steal a little and you throw him in jail, steal a lot and you make him King.” from a Dylan song I don’t recall the title of…and the only real Kings left are the CEOs, CFOs, etc.
As through this life you ramble
You’ll meet some funny men —
Some’ll rob you with a six-gun
And some with a fountain pen.
— Woody Guthrie