According to the report, Lehman used what amounted to financial engineering to temporarily shuffle $50 billion of troubled assets off its books in the months before its collapse in September 2008 to conceal its dependence on leverage, or borrowed money. Senior Lehman executives, as well as the bank’s accountants at Ernst & Young, were aware of the moves, according to Mr. Valukas, the chairman of the law firm Jenner & Block and a former federal prosecutor, who filed the report in connection with Lehman’s bankruptcy case.
Richard S. Fuld Jr., Lehman’s former chief executive, certified the misleading accounts, the report said.
Are these actions illegal? If so, will anyone do jail time for their role in the deception?
| Share | | By Randall Parker at 2010 March 11 11:20 PM Economics Financial Regulation |
Philip Bennnet the CEO of Refco got 16 years in jail for doing something similar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_R._Bennett
Oh, but that was a different time. And Bennett was more of a grubby outsider. Most of Refco's customers were retail. This current crop of Wall Streeters, though, seem to be more protected. They and their minions have populated the ranks of the federal regulatory agencies for a decade or more. Who is going to go after them? Holder? Cuomo? Fat chance. All the pols depend on the recycled loot from Wall Street to further their ambitions.
The United States of America is the most corrupt nation on earth. This is not hyperbole. Kick it in.