Last Call

The Justice Department is apparently moving on a criminal investigation into the Libor rate fixing scandal by the world's top banks, and since all of them do business in the US, it could get ugly, fast.

As regulators ramp up their global investigation into the manipulation of interest rates, the Justice Department has identified potential criminal wrongdoing by big banks and individuals at the center of the scandal.

The department’s criminal division is building cases against several financial institutions and their employees, including traders at Barclays, the British bank, according to government officials close to the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. The authorities expect to file charges against at least one bank later this year, one of the officials said.

The prospect of criminal cases is expected to rattle the banking world and provide a new impetus for financial institutions to settle with the authorities. The Justice Department investigation comes on top of private investor lawsuits and a sweeping regulatory inquiry led by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Collectively, the civil and criminal actions could cost the banking industry tens of billions of dollars.

Hope those charges come before November.  Would be really nice to see some bankster heads roll before the election.  Sadly, if it does happen it will come after November 7.  Obama needs the money too much.  I like the President, but the fact that Jamie Dimon isn't in jail yet doesn't make me think these criminal investigations will go anywhere fast.

We'll see.