Again - 13 Billion is NOT Enough

The 13 Billion Dollar settlement negotiated between Eric Holder and Jamie Dimon is not enough to pay for JP Morgan's crimes. Although it sounds like a whole lot of dollars, watch the video reposted from You Tube - Alexis Breaks it Down sent to me by The Other 98%. According to Rana Foroohar as reported in Time Magazine, this fine is the worst possible outcome.

Why?

Because nothing changes. Their hands are slapped, and life goes on. Too big to fail = Too big to jail. In the Statement of Facts filed with the settlement, JP Morgan was aware that many of the loans bundled and securitized were of low quality. 

And most of the 13 Billion is tax deductible. The taxpayers take it again. According to NPR:


"More than half of the record settlement amount will be tax-deductible, the banking giant said Tuesday.
'It's our understanding that the $2 billion penalty will not be tax-deductible, Lake said, 'but that the remaining $7 billion of compensatory payments will be deductible for tax purposes."

And:

"The Justice Department has issued this breakdown of the $9 billion in the settlement that's not tied to consumer aid:

• $2 billion - civil penalty to settle the Justice Department claims under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act
• $1.4 billion - to settle federal and state securities claims by the National Credit Union Administration
• $515.4 million - to settle federal and state securities claims by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
• $4 billion - to settle federal and state claims by the Federal Housing Finance Agency
• $298.9 million - to settle claims by the State of California
• $19.7 million - to settle claims by the State of Delaware
• $100 million - to settle claims by the State of Illinois
• $34.4 million - to settle claims by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• $613.8 million - to settle claims by the State of New York"

And:

"The settlement represents only a fraction of JPMorgan's $23 billion litigation reserve fund, which it has called a hedge against future legal fees and judgments. That reserve was described in the bank's third-quarter corporate filings, as Lake said in a conference call held Tuesday afternoon."



Business as usual, the cost of doing business, tax deductible, nobody goes to jail.