Washington, D.C., November 12, 2014 – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, an independent nonprofit organization that promotes the public interest in the financial markets, issued the following statement today:

“The breadth, brazenness, scope and duration of the global conspiracy to manipulate the foreign exchange markets are staggering.  Yet, the global too-big-to-fail banks are again allowed to evade responsibility and accountability by using shareholders’ money to pay big fines, which will generate headlines but do little if anything to stop the relentless Wall Street crime spree.  In fact, these payoff PR settlements are little more than cover-ups that reward past crime and will incentivize future crime,” said Dennis M. Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, an independent nonprofit organization that promotes the public interest in the financial markets.

“Banks do not commit crimes; bankers, executives, supervisors and traders do.  Yet, not one single executive is being punished individually and none of the banks even have to admit wrongdoing or disclose the details of their misconduct.  Leaving the public in the dark is not just bad law enforcement policy; it undermines trust and confidence in prosecutors and regulators as well as the banks and financial system themselves.”

“While the banks did agree to take certain steps to better supervise their traders, that is laughably inadequate.  While the terms of these settlements cannot now change, the US and global regulators must now publicly release all the documents related to the investigations and settlements.  The American people deserve this minimal step to be able to evaluate the conduct not just of the banks, but also of the public officials who purport to act in their best interests.”

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Better Markets is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes the public interest in the domestic and global capital and commodity markets. Better Markets advocates for transparency, oversight and accountability with the goal of a stronger, safer financial system that is less prone to crisis and failure thereby eliminating or minimizing the need for more taxpayer funded bailouts. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.com.