Steven Rosenfeld
November 20, 2013
Wall Street’s latest chapter in corporate accountability is hardly
satisfying, even if it is a rare admission of wrongdoing from a major
bank. On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced a $13 billion
settlement with J.P. Morgan for its rapacious role in the housing market
bubble and collapse.
No one should hold their breath waiting for the Justice Department to announce criminal charges against bank executives; even if Attorney General Eric Holder says the case it not closed. Instead, what Americans are left with is an odd legal creature—a so-called “ Statement of Facts”—describing Morgan’s greedy sins.
This declaration is not written in plain English. So here’s AlterNet’s translation of what Morgan said that it did, followed by the relevant legalese. This is as close to a corporate confession of greed and deceit as Americans get today.
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