Too-Big-to-Fail

Swiss Government Forces Emergency UBS Acquisition of Credit Suisse After Regulatory Failure, Ending 167 Years of Swiss Banking History

2023-03-19 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

In an emergency Sunday night intervention to prevent global financial contagion, the Swiss Federal Council exercises emergency powers to force UBS’s acquisition of Credit Suisse without shareholder approval, marking the collapse of one of 30 ‘globally systemically important banks’ …

Credit Suisse UBS FINMA Swiss Federal Council Swiss National Bank +3 more banking-collapse regulatory-capture too-big-to-fail systemic-risk finma +2 more

DOJ Criminal Division Chief Lanny Breuer Resigns After PBS Frontline Documentary 'The Untouchables' Exposes 'Too Big to Jail' Policy Resulting in Zero Major Bank Executive Prosecutions Compared to 900+ Convictions in 1980s S&L Crisis

2013-01-29 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

On January 29, 2013, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer announced his resignation as head of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, just one week after PBS Frontline aired “The Untouchables,” a damning documentary exposing how the Obama Justice Department had …

Lanny Breuer Eric Holder Department of Justice Covington & Burling Barack Obama +2 more financial-crisis accountability-crisis regulatory-capture revolving-door too-big-to-fail +1 more

Obama Admin Prosecutes Zero Wall Street Executives Despite Crisis Fraud

2009-01-20 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

Despite widespread evidence of fraud in the 2008 financial crisis, the Obama administration prosecuted zero major Wall Street executives, contrasting starkly with the Savings and Loan crisis when 1,706 bankers were sent to prison. Instead, the DOJ pursued civil settlements totaling tens of billions, …

Eric Holder Department of Justice Wall Street Banks Lanny Breuer Covington & Burling financial-crisis wall-street impunity revolving-door too-big-to-fail

Federal Reserve Provides $85 Billion Emergency Loan to AIG, Eventually Growing to $182 Billion in Total Taxpayer Commitments to Bail Out Insurance Giant That Gambled on Credit Default Swaps, Followed by $165 Million in Executive Bonuses Paid to Employees Who Caused the Crisis

2008-09-16 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

On September 16, 2008, just one day after allowing Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy, the Federal Reserve provided an $85 billion two-year emergency loan to American International Group (AIG) to prevent the insurance giant’s collapse and contain spreading financial contagion. In exchange …

American International Group Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke Timothy Geithner Henry Paulson +2 more financial-crisis bailout too-big-to-fail regulatory-capture executive-compensation +1 more

Lehman Brothers Files Largest Bankruptcy in U.S. History with $639 Billion in Assets After Government Refuses Bailout, Creating Arbitrary 'Too Big to Fail' Enforcement Where Bear Stearns and AIG Were Rescued But Lehman Was Allowed to Collapse, Triggering Global Financial Panic

2008-09-15 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008, declaring $639 billion in assets and $613 billion in debts, making it the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. The firm’s assets far surpassed those of previous bankrupt giants including …

Lehman Brothers Richard Fuld Henry Paulson Ben Bernanke Timothy Geithner +2 more financial-crisis too-big-to-fail regulatory-capture accountability-crisis market-manipulation

Bear Stearns Collapse and Federal Reserve-Facilitated Fire Sale to JPMorgan with $29 Billion Taxpayer Guarantee Establishes 'Too Big to Fail' Precedent with Zero Criminal Prosecutions Despite Fraud-Driven Collapse

2008-03-16 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

Bear Stearns, the fifth-largest investment bank in the United States with $400 billion in reported consolidated assets, collapsed in March 2008 after its liquidity pool plummeted from $18.1 billion on March 10 to just $2 billion on March 13. The firm had leveraged its capital up to 35 …

Bear Stearns JPMorgan Chase Federal Reserve Bank of New York Ben Bernanke Timothy Geithner +2 more financial-crisis regulatory-capture too-big-to-fail bailout accountability-crisis

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Repeals Glass-Steagall, Enables 2008 Crisis

1999-11-12 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

President Bill Clinton signs the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Financial Services Modernization Act) into law on November 12, 1999, repealing key provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 that separated commercial banking from investment banking and insurance. The Senate passes the final bill 90-8 on …

Phil Gramm Jim Leach Thomas J. Bliley Jr. Bill Clinton Robert Rubin +4 more deregulation regulatory-capture neoliberalism banking-deregulation financial-crisis-precursor +3 more

NationsBank-BankAmerica $62 Billion Merger Creates First Coast-to-Coast National Bank

1998-09-30 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

NationsBank completes its $62 billion acquisition of BankAmerica Corporation, creating the first truly coast-to-coast national bank in U.S. history and taking the Bank of America name. The merger occurs just one year before the formal repeal of Glass-Steagall, demonstrating how banking consolidation …

NationsBank BankAmerica Federal Reserve Department of Justice Hugh McColl banking-consolidation mergers glass-steagall deregulation market-concentration +1 more

Citigroup Merger Violates Glass-Steagall, Forces Deregulation

1998-04-06 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

Citicorp CEO John Reed and Travelers Group CEO Sanford Weill announce on April 6, 1998, the merger of their companies to form Citigroup, a $140 billion conglomerate combining banking, securities, and insurance services under brands including Citibank, Smith Barney, Primerica, and Travelers. The …

Sanford Weill John Reed Citicorp Travelers Group Federal Reserve +3 more deregulation regulatory-capture neoliberalism banking-deregulation corporate-power +2 more