Occupy Toronto
25 July 2012
by Michael Holloway

First instalment of a regular series at The Real News Network today,

Bill Black is an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, a white-collar criminologist, a former financial regulator, author – and now television commentator!

Great move by TRNN. I can’t wait for the next episode from Professor Black. He has been a clear voice at TRNN on these complex issues.

In the first half of today’s report, Black lays out how Bank Regulators conspired with banks to break banking regulations. When massive violations were unearthed by regulators, HSBC bank fraud was ostensibly ignored. The Senate investigation ongoing now into HSBC, by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is so late in coming that statue of limitations have run out on most of the wrong doing – negating any prosecutions.

In the second half of today’s feature, Bill Black reports on Neil Barofsky’s new book, ‘Bailout’ – about his time as SIGTARP (SIGTARP: ‘SIG’, Special Inspector General, ‘TARP’, Troubled Asset Relief Program).

The bank bailout watch-dog, appointed by then President Bush, over saw the $700Billion TARP bank bailout program. While Special Inspector General for TARP, Barofsky forced the Justice Department to take several small banks to court.

As ‘SIG’ it was not Barofsky’s role to pursue prosecutions – but as no government agencies were pursuing evidence of fraud that he had uncovered – he decided to prefer charges on several smaller banks where his team had found record-fixing and fraud by executives at the highest levels; as a test to see if a prosecution would result in convictions — they did.

(more on TARP below)

TheRealNews: “Bill Black Reports: LIBOR and HSBC” 

Wolf Blitzer interviews Special Inspector General, Neil Barofsky on CNN, Oct 5, 2009:

SIGTARP Neil Barofsky Discusses New Report with Wolf Blitzer (interview begins at 0:46)

Links:

The Real News Network | Bill Black Reports: (updating link) – http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=832&Itemid=74&jumival=891

The Real News Network | Bill Black Reports: LIBOR and HSBC: http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=8617

Gaurdian.uk.co, “HSBC, Libor and the cynical ethos of international banking” – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/17/hsbc-libor-cynical-ethos-international-banking?intcmp=239

NYT – Books, “Bad Banks, Big Bailouts and Bruises” ‘Bailout,’ by Neil Barofsky, review by Jackie Calmes, published July 24, 2012, NYT – Books – http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/25/books/bailout-by-neil-barofsky.html?pagewanted=all

SIGTARP – Home – http://www.sigtarp.gov/Pages/home.aspx

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