Too Big to Jail

About Too Big to Jail

The criticism that major banks were not prosecuted for financial crisis crimes because they were too large and politically connected. Attorney General Eric Holder acknowledged in 2013 that some banks were so large that prosecuting them could damage the economy. Banks paid over 200 billion in fines related to the financial crisis, but no major bank executive went to prison. This contrasted sharply with the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, when over 1,000 bankers were prosecuted. Critics argued that fining shareholders rather than prosecuting executives created no deterrence. The lack of criminal prosecutions remains controversial and fueled populist movements on both left and right.