The Despicable…The Despicable Banks and Me

A few years back a good old friend of mine, Sheldon Cohen, former commissioner of the IRS under President Johnson and chief counsel under President Kennedy, told me over lunch in DC that the whole problem with the collapse of the rule of law  during the mortgage foreclosure crisis with the banks is that if they were allowed to get away with it THIS time … what will happen NEXT Time.  He strongly felt that the banks deplorable and despicable behavior needed to be addressed legally and by the regulators or the Wall Street Rule would continue to only be reinforced by the government’s complicity: simply put Wall Street Rules as they make the rules. 

So fast forward now eight years and here we go again. But this time we have a rogue Wells Fargo opening millions of bogus accounts and charging consumers all kind of illegal and despicable fees.

Just today, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs called Wells Fargo’s actions “downright shameful” and said that the state is suspending investments in Wells Fargo debt securities for one year and suspending the use of the bank as a broker/dealer for investment purchases for one year.

While the Bank has already been slapped on the wrist, the problem once again is that the penalty continues to way under value the crime, and thus continues to send a perverse message out to the banks that crime literally does pay.

No wonder most of the voters in this election, whether they were Bernie supporters or the “deplorables” supporting Trump, viscerally understand the problem: There are two sets of rules and laws. One for us little guys and a whole other set that need not be followed by the largest Wall Street Banks. One group voluntarily complies with the law of the land and our tax code and another group flaunts their ability to game the system, create their own rules, and not pay their fair share.

I say shame on you… you Despicable Banks.    

In the Trenches,

Roy Oppenheim