Sarbanes-Oxley News & Developments
Fines, not jail, for Enron`s bankersDespite many smoking guns in the case, the evidence was not sufficient to press actual jail time against Citi and J.P. Morgan.
> > The same day Citi and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. settled up, massive evidence of actual knowledge of Enron`s misdeeds was revealed by bankruptcy examiner Neal Batson, who concluded that concluded that both banks "had actual knowledge of the wrongful conduct in these transactions."
However, to put the bankers behind bars, government lawyers would have had to prove the Citi and J.P. Morgan Chase committed willful fraud, an extremely hard proposition. So the banks get away with paying fines equivalent to roughly a week`s profit, which they can treat as a cost of doing business. While other investigations are under way with possible consequences for the two banks, it is time to revisit the standards for white-collar crime that are currently almost impossible to attain.
Source: Hoover`s
Published:2003-08-05
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