“Congressional Democrats say Attorney General Eric Holder has a long way to go before proving to them that the nations’ largest banks aren’t “too big to jail.”
“Holder plugged this week’s guilty plea from Credit Suisse on a conspiracy to aid tax evasion charge as evidence that not even the world’s largest banks are above the law.
“Democrats who had previously criticized Holder and the Justice Department as soft on Wall Street called the Credit Suisse plea and the $2.6 billion fine that went with it a good first step.
“But they said they would need to see other global banking powers receive that sort of aggressive treatment — and even more bankers go to jail — before they believe Holder is taking a hard enough line against the financial sector.
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“Critics of the deal have noted that a Swiss bank — and not an American one — is the financial institution that was made into an example and that Credit Suisse had little to do with the 2008 financial crisis.
“Plus, they question whether the guilty plea and the $2.6 billion fine will be much of a drag on Credit Suisse’s bottom line. Standard & Poor’s, for instance, this week said that the bank would keep its “A” credit rating, though Moody’s did lower its outlook from stable to negative.
“’I wish reality was anywhere near close to Eric Holder’s public relations campaign,’ said Dennis Kelleher, head of Better Markets, a Wall Street reform group. ‘It’s all just part of a PR campaign to look tough without actually being tough. Ultimately, it will fool no one.’”
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Read full The Hill article here
