Maybe it’s time we consider letting a few heads roll, literally. Given what havoc Wall St. mavens have brought upon the American people, who now must work years, if not decades longer, to make up for funds lost through capitalists recklessness and disregard, perhaps those responsible should be sentenced to punishment commensurate with the crime: the death penalty. For not only have fortunes been lost, lives have, too. There have been reports of suicides among those who’ve lost millions if not billions. These deaths were caused by Wall St. miscreants.
And as the New York Times reported this morning, the deception continues. Apparently, Merrill Lynch, while it was giving its top executives huge bonuses late last year – a year in which the firm lost billions – and while the firms was being bought by Bank of America, hid even greater losses.
Bank of America’s shareholders did not learn of that gaping hole until after they approved the merger of the two companies on Dec. 5. Nor was the extent of the loss fully known when Merrill paid out $3.6 billion in bonuses, which were based on estimates of the firm’s performance as of Dec. 8. When the problems became clear, Bank of America was forced to seek a second, multibillion-dollar rescue from Washington.
But no worries, mate. You were there to help them out.
When the discrepancy came to light a few weeks ago, Bank of America dispatched risk-management executives to investigate. David Gu, the bank’s chief of interest rates and currencies, who does not directly oversee [rogue trader Alexis Stenfors whose $121 million trading loss was kept off the books until after the merger], initially dismissed Bank of America’s concerns, according to a person briefed on the conversations. Mr. Gu argued that the taxpayer dollars that Bank of America had received more than filled the hole, according to this person. [emphasis added]
Off with their heads!