For years, Better Markets has been tracking the enforcement actions against the nation’s six largest banks (the “Six Megabanks”), along with some of the most prominent civil cases.  The number of actions and the dollar amounts of penalties and damages imposed on the banks have grown with each passing report.  And the violations and fines keep piling up, apparently having no impact on the lawbreaking habits at these banks.

In the last 23 years, the six megabanks have been the subject of 490 legal actions against them and more than $207 billion in fines and settlements. Over the past 15 months, since the most recent report in May 2022, the pattern of illegal conduct by the Six Megabanks has continued.  Their RAP Sheets now include 60 more new cases, which have resulted in over $9 billion in additional fines arising from the banks’ ripping off, discriminating against, or financially endangering their customers.

In short, the banks continue their lawbreaking as “business as usual.” That means routinely breaking the law, getting sweetheart settlements, paying fines that are less than the cost-of-doing-business, and moving on to commit even more violations of law. Adding insult to injury, the responsible individuals at the banks almost always walk away unpunished, with their pockets stuffed with bonus money. Our Rap Sheet Report confirms that the Six Megabanks are not only too-big-to-fail but also too-big-to-manage, too-big-to-regulate, and decidedly too-big-to-jail.

Here’s just a sample of what’s new in this Rap Sheet:

• In December 2022, Wells Fargo was required to pay more than $2 billion in redress to consumers, as well as a $1.7 billion civil penalty, in a consent order with the CFPB to resolve allegations that the company repeatedly misapplied loan payments, wrongfully foreclosed on homes and illegally repossessed vehicles, incorrectly assessed fees and interest, and charged surprise overdraft fees, along with other illegal activity affecting over 16 million consumer accounts.
• In May 2023, Wells Fargo agreed to pay its shareholders $1 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the bank and its former leadership misled investors and the public about its response to allegations that the bank was improperly opening consumer accounts without permission.
• In May 2023, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $215 million to settle a years-long class action lawsuit that claimed the bank discriminated against women employees’ pay, performance evaluations, and promotions.

• In June 2023, JPMorgan agreed to pay roughly $290 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by victims of Jeffrey Epstein alleging that the bank not only ignored but in fact facilitated Epstein’s crimes because he had been a valuable client and helped introduce new wealthy clients to the bank.
• In July 2023, the OCC and the CFPB collected $150 million in penalties and $100 million in disgorgement from Bank of America for illegally charging junk overdraft fees, withholding credit card rewards, and opening fake accounts.
• In August 2023, Citigroup agreed to pay a $2.9 million fine to the SEC to settle charges that the bank’s broker-dealer unit intentionally violated record-keeping requirements with respect to the expenses incurred in its underwriting business.
• In August 2023, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay 5.41 million British pounds—equal to approximately $6.82 million—to the United Kingdom’s energy markets regulator to settle allegations that its traders used banned messaging applications that violated requirements to retain written communications.

• In September 2023, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay the CFTC a $30,000,000 fine for failing to diligently supervise a wide range of its swap dealer activities, and for unprecedented failures regarding swap data reporting and the disclosure of Pre-Trade Mid-Market Mark Disclosures in violation of multiple sections of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.

Learn more in our report here or click the button below.