In a recent 3-0 ruling that has left many shocked and scratching their heads, a federal appeals court has reversed a $1.27 billion jury verdict against Bank of America (BofA). The federal jury took only three hours in 2013 to find BofA guilty of civil fraud for deliberately selling defective mortgages through their Countrywide unit… [Read More]
Search Results for: Fannie
The DOJ Lemon Award – Go Directly to Jail!
William K. Black, a professor of Economics and Law, UMKC, a former financial regulator and author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is To Own One, and one of our Bank Whistleblowers United (BWU) co-founders has decided we could “retire” our series of BWU Lemon Awards and permanently award “a Lemon” award to… [Read More]
Silence is Deadly. Lessons Learned.
The audience was primarily internal auditors at my presentation this week at the 11th Annual Fraud Summit, held at the University of Texas at Dallas, where I teach, sponsored by the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and Information Systems Audit and Control Association. I talked about fraud and how as… [Read More]
Now We Know — The DOJ Ignored Two FCIC Citi Criminal Referrals!
Several items have recently hit the press regarding the financial crisis of 2008 which could lead to further investigation of what actually happened and who is responsible. One that has me excited is the National Archives releasing the first of many documents of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) which have been sealed for five… [Read More]
We Need To Speak Up, Loud and Clear!
Over 450 educators were in my audience this last weekend when I addressed the members of the American Accounting Association Auditors Section, the largest community of accountants and auditors in academia, So what happened, I asked them? In the financial crisis, how was it possible that all of the large financial institutions that either failed or were bailed out… [Read More]
It’s a New Year With Hope for the Large Banks! (?)
It’s a brand new year! And, this means new beginnings and hope for us all personally and perhaps for the direction our country is moving towards. After all, a new year and new beginnings does signify hope so being optimistic is a good thing, isn’t it? I was feeling hopeful the financial services industry was… [Read More]
Is the Government Nationalizing U.S. Companies?
Since 2012, the U.S. seems to be business as usual. Stocks have been climbing, the “too big to fail” banks have basically paid back their government “bail out” money. The housing market has boomed, with too few homes to go around, causing much higher demand for rentals. Unfortunately, this has resulted in some renters having… [Read More]
Behavioral Ethics: Too Big To Fail and the Financial Crisis
This coming week, I will be speaking at the annual conference of the American Accounting Association (AAA). AAA is the largest community of accountants in academia; key experts in that field on leading-edge research and publications. They are well known and respected as thought leaders and for shaping the future of accounting through teaching, research… [Read More]
Were Bank Settlements Really Payments of Extortion to the Department of Justice??
Congratulations are in order to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has managed to bring a case to trial against Nomura Holdings and the Royal Bank of Scotland, two foreign banks with little U.S. reputational risk. This relatively obscure agency oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Considering they have nowhere near the power of our federal regulators and prosecutors at our… [Read More]
William Black Tells the Ugly Truth!
William K. Black, author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One: How Corporate Executives and Politicians Looted the S&L Industry, is a lawyer, academic, and a former bank regulator. He was formerly the litigation director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, deputy director of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance… [Read More]