US DOJ To Bring Charges Against Those Accountable for 2008 Financial Crisis

According to The Wall Street Journal, US Attorney General Eric Holder wants Wall Street to know that the Justice Department is getting ready to bring criminal and civil securities fraud charges against those accountable for the financial crisis of 2008. Cases against a number of large financial firms are likely. During his interview with the WSJ, Holder said that “No individual, no company is above the law.”

Holder has been criticized, along with the Obama Administration, of not doing enough to file criminal charges against financial firm executives over the 2008 meltdown. However, recent disclosures indicate that the US government is going after new prosecutions of possible wrongdoing involving mortgage-backed securities.

After that industry’s fast growth led to the housing bubble, which then burst, resulting in a credit crisis, financial institutions were left with securities that dropped in value. DOJ officials also say that prosecutors continue to be involved in probes involving RMBS.

Meantime, federal prosecutors have been filing cases related to purported wrongdoing from prior to the economic meltdown, including the criminal charges against two former JPMorgan (JPM) traders for allegedly misstating trading loses that would eventually lead to over $6 billion in loses. There is also the DOJ’s securities lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and McGraw Hill Financial Inc. for allegedly misleading investors about the ratings of mortgage bonds.

While such action is positive, it is important to note that when certain white-color criminal charges are involved, the five-year statute of limitations may make it hard to successfully prosecute actions that took place prior to the financial crash.

Our financial fraud lawyers work with investors seeking to recover their losses caused by the negligence of members of the financial industry. Contact our securities law firm today.

Justice Department Plans New Crisis-Related Cases, Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2013

US Department of Justice

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