I have always despised the plaintiffs' class action bar, but I hope they go postal on these banks and financial firms. I want to see them tear this POS Bob Steel from Wachovia apart. If a lying prick can go on Tv and say everything is fine, then the bank fails the next week and there are no consequences, we might as well repeal the securities laws. With Chris Cox in charge, the SEC has apparently ceased to function. Hopefully Obama can bring back the type of SEC we had under Clinton, where investors were actually a consideration. They certainly aren't now.
Yes, that's exactly where I want my portion of the $700 billion to go.........straight into the lawyers pockets.
Very impressive. First off, yes, I agree with you. I am just impressed by your accross the aisle inclusion of both Obama and Clinton. c
Who are they going to sue? Besides, I think the market is going to take care of this. Just last night on CNBC someone said every time a financial ceo gets out there and says his company is fine - all you have to do is short it. Here is the point - if the entity survives - no law suit. If the bank does not survive - what are your causes of action - where is your deep pocket to pay out damages? and, how will you respond to the CEO saying that had the market listened to me we would have survived. In this case the ceo blames the run on the bank. I have a law partner who used to work for the largest firm in the country - his goal is file some big class actions - it is not that easy to spot them and expect to get paid. The lenders and the mortgage broker lobby - have some pretty good legislative insulation. A lot of time and money goes into a class action - lawyers like to know they are going to win. In fact I suspect the whole reason lenders let all these outside mortgage brokers make so much money - was to keep them somewhat protected from lawsuits. Now that people have to qualify for mortgages it looks like the lenders are phasing out independent mortgage sellers are going to be phased out.
The money is gone...paid out in salaries and bonuses and reinvested in leveraged assets gone bad. Attorneys can't do anything from a civil perspective, unfortunately.
What Goes Before A Fall? On Wall Street, Reassurance Andrew Ross Sorkin New York Times. September 30, 2008 _________________________________________________________________________ EXCERPT: âJim, we have a great future as an independent company,â Robert K. Steel, Wachoviaâs chief executive, told James Cramer on CNBCâs âMad Money.â âWeâre also focused on very exciting prospects when we get things right going forward. I didnât have time today to talk about the good things going on at Wachovia.â That interview wasnât last month or last year â it took place, amazingly, two weeks ago. Wachoviaâs shares closed at $10.71 that day. On Monday, Citigroup bought the company for $1 a share. What was Mr. Steel thinking? Did he think he could âspinâ his way to survival? It is a conundrum that C.E.O.âs of troubled companies seem always to face. In an effort to bolster public confidence in their businesses, they give interviews and try to put on a happy face â right before their companies go off a cliff. ⦠It is hard to imagine that taxpayers would spend $700 billion (or any amount) to bail out Wall Street and the economy without some big-name executive going to jail. For better or worse, it is the way our society works. Michael Milken can tell you all about it. More likely than not, when we start seeing pictures of C.E.O. perp walks, the crime wonât be theft or some other kind of financial chicanery, it will be some kind of fraud â probably lying to the investing public. âIf there are ways people in this room go to jail, itâs probably through crimes of upholstery â the cover-up will kill you,â Joseph A. Grundfest, a professor of law at Stanford University who is a former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said at a class for directors of the nationâs Fortune 500 that I attended in 2002 in the aftermath of Enronâs collapse. Itâs a great line that Iâve never forgotten.