Volkswagen’s stunning admission that it sold diesel-powered cars that intentionally faked emissions testing results has left many of their owners — who thought they were buying fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles — angry and feeling betrayed.
The deception could prove a major threat to Volkswagen’s reputation in the United States and could break the trust that the German automaker had cultivated with car owners over the years. It could also have lasting consequences for the future of diesel-powered technology championed by Volkswagen, which has been seeking to make a comeback in the United States.
How a Memo Cost Big Banks $37 Billion
J.P. Morgan executives were eager to settle. Bank lawyers hired mock juries to gauge how their side of the case might play out in a courtroom. The results were disheartening, especially when the “jurors” saw internal emails.
Global banks agree to pay $4.3 billion for manipulating currency markets
ONCE again, a handful of the world’s largest banks have agreed to pay vast amounts of money to settle an investigation, this time concerning the manipulation of benchmarks used in the trading of currencies. American, British and Swiss regulators clubbed together to squeeze six banks for $4.3 billion between them. Yet more fines may be in the pipeline.
The deal announced on November 12th follows a now familiar pattern: regulators release e-mails or instant messages they have harvested that indicate sleazy activity in an important market; banks issue statements that are contrite, emphatic about a commitment to moral values yet vague about what exactly occurred; no one charges any individuals with any crimes and lots of questions are left unanswered ..
The $9 Billion Witness: Meet JPMorgan Chase’s Worst Nightmare
But that morning the presser was suddenly canceled, and no complaint was filed. According to later news reports, Dimon had personally called Associate Attorney General Tony West, the third-ranking official in the Justice Department, and asked to reopen negotiations to settle the case out of court.
.. Fleischmann later realized that the government wasn’t interested in having her testify against Chase in court or any other public forum. Instead, the Justice Department’s political wing, led by Holder, appeared to be using her, and her evidence, as a bargaining chip to extract more hush money from Dimon. It worked. Within weeks, Dimon had upped his offer to roughly $9 billion.
.. In a pair of celebrated cases, an unpleasantly honest federal judge named Jed Rakoff had rejected sweetheart deals worked out between banks and slavish regulators and had commanded the state to go back to the drawing board and come up with real punishments.
Seemingly not wanting to deal with even the possibility of such a thing happening, Holder blew off the idea of showing the settlement to a judge. The settlement, says Kelleher, “was unprecedented in many ways, including being very carefully crafted to bypass the court system. . . . There can be little doubt that the DOJ and JP-Morgan were trying to avoid disclosure of their dirty deeds and prevent public scrutiny of their sweetheart deal.”
..In a pair of celebrated cases, an unpleasantly honest federal judge named Jed Rakoff had rejected sweetheart deals worked out between banks and slavish regulators and had commanded the state to go back to the drawing board and come up with real punishments.
Seemingly not wanting to deal with even the possibility of such a thing happening, Holder blew off the idea of showing the settlement to a judge. The settlement, says Kelleher, “was unprecedented in many ways, including being very carefully crafted to bypass the court system. . . . There can be little doubt that the DOJ and JP-Morgan were trying to avoid disclosure of their dirty deeds and prevent public scrutiny of their sweetheart deal.” Kelleher asks a rhetorical question: “Can you imagine the outcry if [Bush-era Attorney General] Alberto Gonzales had gone into the backroom and given Halliburton immunity in exchange for a billion dollars?”
.. The people who stole all those billions are still in place. And the bank is more untouchable than ever – former Debevoise & Plimpton hotshots Mary Jo White and Andrew Ceresny, who represented Chase for some of this case, have since been named to the two top jobs at the SEC.