Let’s see here.
The public at large rails on those in Washington for going easy on our ‘too big to fail’ banks for a host of clearly criminal practices.
Uncle Sam — that is the SEC, other regulators, and ultimately the Department of Justice — try to talk tough and hit an array of institutions with sizable fines but little really changes.
The public continues to see through the facade and lets Uncle Sam know it.
The ‘old man’ decides he needs to really get tough and begins to mandate that institutions admit guilt as part of the settlement process. The first guilty party is Credit Suisse, then next up is BNP Paribas. Now we awake this morning to see that Germany’s second largest lender, Commerzbank, is likely next in the crosshairs. Do you detect a pattern here? Bloomberg provides further transparency in reporting:
Commerzbank AG (CBK), Germany’s second-largest lender, will probably be the next bank to resolve alleged U.S. sanctions violations, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
The Frankfurt-based firm may incur penalties of at least $500 million as part of a deferred-prosecution agreement with authorities as soon as summer in the U.S., the person said, asking not to be identified because the talks are confidential. Such agreements spare companies a felony conviction.
The probe is part of a U.S. crackdown on financial institutions for handling funds linked to blacklisted nations that led to a record $8.97 billion fine against BNP Paribas SA. (BNP) France’s Credit Agricole SA (ACA) and Societe Generale SA (GLE), Germany’s Deutsche Bank AG (DBK)and Italy’s UniCredit SpA (UCG) are among other lenders being investigated by U.S. authorities.
The U.S. has brought at least 22 cases against financial firms since 2009 for doing business or handling funds linked to sanctioned countries, according to announcements on government websites.
Last week’s $8.97 billion fine against BNP dwarfs the combined $4.9 billion levied against 21 other banks since U.S. President Barack Obama took office. Most of those cases targeted overseas banks, with less than $90 million in fines imposed on U.S. firms. In 2011, New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. paid $88.3 million to settle allegations over transactions involving Cuba, Iran and Sudan.
