I know a little bit about capital markets.  So these days lots of folks ask me “but how is it possible that these guys aren’t just put in jail for what they do?”  Well as my friends know, I’m pretty lazy.  It seems like a good “one to many” opportunity to just post something here and refer them to it.  Enjoy! 

“On June 18, 2007, the Supreme Court issued its opinion regarding the granting of immunity from prosecution to the banking industry, by any governing body other than the SEC (which has no powers of criminal prosecution), concluding that the SEC was doing a good job. The Court wrote: “…there is here no question of the existence of appropriate regulatory authority, nor is there doubt as to whether the regulators have exercised that authority.”

This ruling was a great follow-up and companion to the 1987 ruling allowing for the creation of an insider run “mandatory arbitration” panel to hear cases involving fraud.

Luckily, the media makes sure to keep the focus on the many important social issues the court hears like so no one is distracted by little tidbits like the above.  I’m sure that’s purely coincidence 🙂  So why aren’t the jails overflowing with bankers?  Well the Supreme Court seems to not really want them there.