This article was written by Michael Snyder and originally published at his Economic Collapse blog.
Editor’s Comment: This is only the beginning… the entire operations are saturated in fraud, throughout the major institutions because the combination of greed, pretend-only regulation and an atmosphere free of inhibition and restraint has allowed it to fester and grow.
Now, our entire economy is in the hands of these people… and the sales clerks who were involved in fraud here are just the tip of the iceberg. More significant crimes and perpetrators may well be outed in the weeks and months to come as a tremendous amount of pressure is giving way to some dark times ahead. Those inside the system will be looking for scapegoats and distractions, and their will be many culpable and exposed small-timers ready for the plucking. Probably a token big fish will be offered up as well, as the larger con gets ready to fleece the nation of its remaining wealth and finalize the condition of serfdom and debt slavery. Hang on, batten down the hatches, etc.
Major Problems Announced At One Of The Largest Too Big To Fail Banks In The United States
by Michael Snyder
Do you remember when our politicians promised to do something about the “too big to fail” banks? Well, they didn’t, and now the chickens are coming home to roost. On Thursday, it was announced that one of those “too big to fail” banks, Wells Fargo, has been slapped with 185 million dollars in penalties. It turns out that for years their employees had been opening millions of bank and credit card accounts for customers without even telling them. The goal was to meet sales goals, and customers were hit by surprise fees that they never intended to pay. Some employees actually created false email addresses and false PIN numbers to sign customers up for accounts. It was fraud on a scale that is hard to imagine, and now Wells Fargo finds itself embroiled in a major crisis.
There are six banks in America that basically dwarf all of the other banks – JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. If a single one of those banks were to fail, it would be a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions for our financial system. So we need these banks to be healthy and running well. That is why what we just learned about Wells Fargo is so concerning…
Employees of Wells Fargo (WFC) boosted sales figures by covertly opening the accounts and funding them by transferring money from customers’ authorized accounts without permission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Los Angeles city officials said.
An analysis by the San Francisco-headquartered bank found that its employees opened more than two million deposit and credit card accounts that may not have been authorized by consumers, the officials said. Many of the transfers ran up fees or other charges for the customers, even as they helped employees make incentive goals.
Wells Fargo says that 5,300 employees have been fired as a result of this conduct, and they are promising to clean things up.
Hopefully they will keep their word.
It is interesting to note that the largest shareholder in Wells Fargo is Berkshire Hathaway, and Berkshire Hathaway is run by Warren Buffett. There has been a lot of debate about whether or not this penalty on Wells Fargo was severe enough, and it will be very interesting to hear what he has to say about this in the coming days…
Wells Fargo is the most valuable bank in America, worth just north of $250 billion. Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), the investment firm run legendary investor Warren Buffett, is the company’s biggest shareholder.
“One wonders whether a penalty of $100 million is enough,” said David Vladeck, a Georgetown University law professor and former director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “It sounds like a big number, but for a bank the size of Wells Fargo, it isn’t really.”
After the last crisis, we were told that we would never be put in a position again where the health of a single “too big to fail” institution could threaten to bring down our entire financial system.
But our politicians didn’t fix the “too big to fail” problem.
Instead it has gotten much, much worse.
Back in 2007, the five largest banks held 35 percent of all bank assets. Today, that number is up to 44 percent…
Since 1992, the total assets held by the five largest U.S. banks has increased by nearly fifteen times! Back then, the five largest banks held just 10 percent of the banking industry total. Today, JP Morgan alone holds over 12 percent of the industry total, a greater share than the five biggest banks put together in 1992.
Even in the midst of the global financial crisis, the largest U.S. banks managed to increase their hold on total bank industry assets. The assets held by the five largest banks in 2007 – $4.6 trillion – increased by more than 150 percent over the past 8 years. These five banks went from holding 35 percent of industry assets in 2007 to 44 percent today.
Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 smaller institutions have disappeared from our financial system since the beginning of the last crisis.
So the problem of “too big to fail” is now larger than ever.
Considering how reckless these big banks have been, it is inevitable that one or more of them will fail at some point. When that takes place, it will make the collapse of Lehman Brothers look like a Sunday picnic.
And with each passing day, the rumblings of a new financial crisis grow louder. For example, this week we learned that commercial bankruptcy filings in the United States in August were up a whopping 29 percent compared to the same period a year ago…
In August, US commercial bankruptcy filings jumped 29% from a year ago to 3,199, the 10th month in a row of year-over-year increases, the American Bankruptcy Institute, in partnership with Epiq Systems, reported today.
There’s money to be made. While stockholders and some creditors get raked over the coals, lawyers make a killing on fees. And some folks on the inside track, hedge funds, and private equity firms can make a killing picking up assets for cents on the dollar.
Companies are going bankrupt at a rate that we haven’t seen since the last financial crisis, but nobody seems concerned.
Back in 2007 and early 2008, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, President Bush and a whole host of “experts” assured us that everything was going to be just fine and that a recession was not coming.
Today, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Barack Obama and a whole host of “experts” are assuring us that everything is going to be just fine and that a recession is not coming.
I hope that they are right.
I really do.
But there is a reason why so many firms are filing for bankruptcy, and there is a reason why so many Americans are getting behind on their auto loans.
Our giant debt bubble is beginning to burst, and this is going to cause a tremendous amount of financial chaos.
Let us just hope that the “too big to fail” banks can handle the stress this time around.
This article was written by Michael Snyder and originally published at his Economic Collapse blog.
Michael T. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Florida law school and he worked as an attorney in the heart of Washington D.C. for a number of years.
Today, Michael is best known for his work as the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and The American Dream.
If you want to know what is coming and what you can do to prepare, read his latest book [amazon text=Get Prepared Now!: Why A Great Crisis Is Coming & How You Can Survive It&asin=150522599X].
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the rule of law IS dead in america.
Ya think?
So give us the Names of all the Bankers in this case that went to JAIL? Crickets.
~WWTI… Too Big to Jail.
CORRUPTION is and has become the socially acceptable behavior and has helped to finish off this country and of course the standard was set by politicians!!
Time for Appellplatz is way over due.
9/11 is Sunday . Cyber attack on the banking system? EMP on the east coast? Or west coast by North Korea ? Evacuate or supply the entire west coast with dead cars jamming the free ways . Backup generators to supply tap water run out of fuel. No surface water available . In one week half of so cal . Will be depopulated. Watch a mark dice video and see what we will be losing.
Hey there Lone wolverine; You have painted a bleak, but totally possible ‘run of events’. And ty for the Mark Dice info (it’s a new one on us).
We, (wife and I), tend to assume events WILL happen and if they don’t …we keep on keeping on.
mark dice has made a CAREER out of showing U.S. how absolutely STUPID americans are now…it’s hard for ME to watch.
The last time the dam of fraud almost broke open ww2 closed it . This time ww3 will cover their fraud. Anyone who isn’t ready will suffer hard before they die.
250 billion dollars back by nothing fiat money time for a reset back to the gold or silver standard.
And the scumbags bankers are working over time the last few days, to keep Silver and Gold trading prices depressed. Silver $19.31 when this was posted. By now everybody seems to agree PM’s are heavily manipulated. JP Morgan has one of the largest Silver stashes in the world, put away in their vaults. They know what they are doing. Take that as a cue to emulate.
On the positive side, just keep buying more Silver while the price is overly depressed. Buy on the dips, They are doing this for many reasons. To shake out the weak players, catch options players in their trap. And the Government looks the other way, because it helps prop up the Scummy US printed IOU Dollar as a safe haven opposed to PM’s. NOT. Don’t be fooled by this ploy. After November “All bets are off the Tables” as this entire mess unwinds. And massive Inflation kicks in.. YOU WANT TO BE HOLDING SILVER AND GOLD TO PRESERVE YOUR WEALTH. I am sure most of us agree on this.
Anybody who stores their money or wealth in Bank UN-Safety Deposit Boxes will be screwed. They will drill them out and steal that too, and you will have to file a claim, that will be denied, How do you prove what was in your box?? You can’t. So physical Gold and Silver in your hand is the Best, as well as other tangibles like Land, BOL’s, Food, Fuel, Guns and Ammo. Which is right there with Air, Water and Shelter.
~WWTI… Yeah Silver should be trading at $26.50 right now. Its out of my control. After November, to the Moon. Dec, Silver $28-$30, to catch up with the normal trading fundamentals of Silver to Gold Price Ratios.
We’ve chosen to hang onto bandaids and beans to preserve our health.
There have been plenty of safe deposit box theft incidents. They seem to target the boxes that have gold in them. I read about one incident where they took the gold and left the cash in the box.
The U.S. of Everything Is Rigged, Illegal (or pending)..
“Too Big To Fail Banks” Caught Creating Fake Accounts… The Dam Of Fraud Is About to Spill Open
5,300 people fired for doing something illegal, that we all should know these orders came from the top of the Banking Chain themselves.
When a President [Bill Clinton] repealed the Glass Steagall Act … what could of possibly gone wrong? -(sarcasm)
“Too Big To Fail = Too Big To Jail”
That needs to change – start jailing/executing all that is involved in this ponzi scheme and maybe, just maybe there will be some regulated order.
Stop slapping this White Collar Crime with Fines on the wrist, and start putting handcuffs on them instead or better yet – ropes around their necks.
MAC
Thanks for the Moderation fix – it’s very much appreciated!
FTW
“When a President [Bill Clinton] repealed the Glass Steagall Act”
Say it often and say it loud.
It’s those pesky DERIVATIVES.
Why are we not in a Financial Collapse?
Why are we not in a World War?
Why are we not in a Civil War or Revolution?
All the parts are they to have any of these events to occur, but life goes on as if everything is going fine.
..”as if everything is going fine”? Anon, you, wherever you are, find matters to be basically “fine”?
All over The USA, our TOP Physicians are FAILING with their private practices because nobody is paying sh*t, and hiring lawyers doesn’t help as one cannot extract blood from turnips. So, at a now FURIOUS pace docs are joining/signing onto Hospitals, as Staff, combined with their private practices …and still barely holding on if not still sliding to the rear.
The last doctor I spoke with told me “their world” has been so “frigged with” by Uncle Sam that it’s all but impossible to make a buck and correct DX’s (diagnoses) at the same time (given they have five minutes per patient …you may as well doctor yourself). You chances are better and you’ll save gas money and Big Pharma ripoffs.
A VERY BAD THING ALMOST HAPPENED.
You guys would not believe what just happened recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-dWxDNTl0Q
Brave, Sarge, Genius, Buttcrackofdoom, Frank, and others to name a few. Listen to what just happened. We almost got our asses nuked in July 2016, and Israel saved our asses from what almost commensed. Before anyone calls bullshit, listen to the video. They are working around the clock to stop this election. I told you all while back that North Korea is a US colony that works for the current regime, and is allied with China, and others called bullshit. Well, when a nuclear warhead is decending over the mid US continent, and we were minutes away from a big SHTF FALLOUT NUCLEAR FALLOUT. No wonder the agency ass clown trolls want me silenced. Sorry trolls, by buddies on this site will get to know what you phuckers just did.
HCKS.
HCKS –
(A)
Israel is not our buddies
(B)
The video you posted is 42 minutes long. People like me who live out in the country who do not have unlimited data use is not going to waste their bandwidth on that lengthy video – care to paraphrase or highlight it’s contents?
Shucks.
The Wells Fargo is penny-ante stuff.
The Federal Reserve is embezzling $6 BILLION daily using their exclusive control of the auction accounts of Treasury securities. Ref. 31 CFR 375.3.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/49040689 rip off by the federal reserve
Recall that gold, silver and platinum are to only things that are not a claim against someone/something else. Everything else is a *promise* to pay. Cold comfort when the music stops, and 100 people are scrambling for 4 chairs (of course, we can’t play musical chairs today, as our poor snowflake university students would consider that too stressful or a “micro-aggression!)
It is, was Will Rogers once said, a situation where you might be concerned more about the return OF you money, than the return ON your money.
Off topic, but of interest, I suspect, to many of you:
Once again, the lying leftist media first didn’t report this, then tried to spin it. But then – as you see below – got caught. Please consider passing this on, as you KNOW the lamestream media will try to bury this.
Hillary Clinton was spotted wearing a nearly invisible earpiece yesterday during the NBC TV Town Hall event. Story at multiple sites, including http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2016/09/mediaite-wrong-again-yes-granny-catlady.html#more
True to form, the dimwits at Mediaite are claiming this is all a conspiracy, first with urgent missives like “Fox News Now Reporting Anonymously Sourced Theory About Clinton’s ‘Earpiece’” and “Donald Trump Jr. Spreads Hillary Clinton Earpiece Conspiracy Theory on Twitter”, to name but a few.
Well, it turns out that Wikileaks actually captured an email from Huma Abedin to Hillary Clinton asking whether the elderly, infirm, and oft-injured catlady had remembered her “earpiece.” (See picture of this at the link I provided)
Josh Feldman, usually one of the few voices of sanity at the far left media-watching website, was quick to react to the Wikileaks revelation, offering up the ludicrous explanation that — not only are you imagining that earpiece in the photo, but — Hillary simply needed her “earpiece” for the United Nations General Assembly.
Pity Josh never bothered to actually look up what UN General Assemblies actually look like. (Picture of this at link above)
Psst, Joshie: do an image search for united nations translation or un translation service and you’ll see what the headsets look like.
They’re not teeny earpieces that your Abuela forgets to bring to the UN. (For more from the author of “MEDIAITE WRONG AGAIN: Yes, Granny Catlady Wears an Earpiece to Get Instructions From Handlers” Again, see http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2016/09/mediaite-wrong-again-yes-granny-catlady.html#more for actual pictures of the email Anthony Wiener’s ex wife sent Hitlery, which Wikileaks published. And YES, they STILL have no clue about email security)
Wells Fargo merged with Wachovia who settled in Federal Court pleading No Contest to charges of laundering dope money about 6 years ago. The funds not monitored according to Federal Law totaled between $300 and $400 billion; yes with a “B”. As even Tony Montana of Scarface fame would say, “That’s not peanuts”. While a corporation is considered a person under law and given the same rights and hence the same potential punishment you can’t put Wachovia in prison but they get the Bill Of Rights to a far greater degree than you do. Conversely the people in charge of Wachovia from CEO to bank teller we’re not charged. The punishment was a $160 million dollar fine.
“An uneducated man robs a train”. “An educated man steals the railroad”.
President Theodore Roosevelt
Rule Of Law? Equal protection under the law? How in the hell does a Civics Teacher teach with a straight face? Stuff like this is down right embarrassing.
h ttp://www.nbcnews.com/id/35914759/ns/business-world_business/t/wachovia-settle-drug-money-laundering-case/#.V9LUwWWMDVo
Nice post, Kevin, and spot on. In the world of Obama and Hilary, it is, to paraphrase Leona Helmsley from the 1990s, a world where laws are only for the “little people.” Cf. Lois Lerner, Hilary’s email scam, and worse
The whole thing stinks!!!
Just checked the DOW at 11:20 Central time DOWN over 200 points.
With all the fraud and when it gets out look out folks the Roller Coaster is on its way down.
Also heard that the Dow is down because the interest rate is going up!
Well it was a great summer.
Sgt.
I think it would be quite difficult for a nation to go into a recession when it’s already (reportedly) at the same “Numbers of The Great Depression.”
Unless, you preference the governments unemployment estimate of 7% against the reported 25% (there’s a bit of a diff there) …wonder whose telling the truth?
200 points? 300 points? This is not a correction. This is business as usual. A real honest macro-economic correction would be 2000-5000. The stock market is over inflated and everyone knows it. Makes me sick
How is Wells Fargo able to stay in business? They have lost all trust. Who wants a bank they can’t trust? This lawless country will surely die in the near future.
Eric,
Fraudsters are going to keep getting bolder and bolder and getting away with their frauds. Believe me nothing is going to stop it until it all comes crashing down. If anything was going to be done about the fraud and thievery and manipulation it would have been done a long time ago. It is totally up to the INDIVIDUAL now to protect what belongs to them.
Nah. The Middle East has been at it for over 6,000 years and there’s still plenty of stuff left to blow up and people to kill.
Somehow, war is self-perpetuating. Perhaps magically induced?
Here is the scary part – if Wells Fargo can open accounts and transfer your money without your knowledge – then what will stop them from withdrawing all of your money out of your account and CLOSING it! Sorry Mr. SHTFer – our records show that you electronically withdrew that money and closed your account!
NorseMan, (hey there)… You pose an interesting thought. My 2-cents on it is that once the Rule of Law has been obliterated (The Constitution and Amendments), American morality, etc …you will “see with your own eyes” precisely what you stated.
Money will be quickly taken and pocketed and door will be locked down. ATMs will be shut off and WalMart will cash all checks for one dollar more than the total amount you are writing them for.
As is written; “There will be no law on the streets” (that means the streets will be “Hell on Earth” (in a small way). But they will carry the aroma of burning flesh, hair, toxins, fuels, sewerage, urine ….ad infinitum (hate that phrase).
Need a bigger mattress to store my funds under.
Jim in VA, Can you please share your complete address along with the number of bedrooms in your house. I am kinda short in funds. LOL.
How about a bigger shovel. Mattresses aren’t a safe enough place.
When I was a child someone buried treasure all over our yard. You had to dig and turn and while you were at it remove the weeds. We got the yard in really good shape without anyone asking. It wasn’t work. It was a treasure hunt we pursued with enthusiasm.!
______
I saw on the news where a customer who was taken said she will go elsewhere for her banking and close her account there. What if everyone did? Will they shut down the bank like they did 7 years ago when there was a run on it then?
Yes.
money is all relative. If $1 buys x amount & then it is devalued it takes MORE dollars to buy same amount.
However the EURO & YUAN & YEN will all be devalued to compete for export market!
only thing that holds long term PURCHASING power is GOLD
So, here we are two days from possibly the greatest crime ever perpetrated on the American people and what do we have?
We have a bill unanimously passed in Congress that allows Americans to sue the Saudi government for damages. Obama wants to nix it. He is in a tough spot.
Veto it and he will have the wrath of the people after him. Sign it and he will have the wrath of the Saudis upon him. What to do?
If he signs it, the Saudis may just out the REAL perps. If he vetoes it, he looks like he is against the American victims.
Who are the REAL perpetrators? Just look who is vocally backing the bill. Chuck Schumer and Peter King. Course, these dual citizens would push this bill because it runs cover for the real culprits, their Israeli masters.
I’ve decided to start a bank. Send me your gold and I will store it for you. Otherwise my men, those bandits (the highwaymen) will just keep robbing you. It’s for your own good. I’m here to help. Trust me, friend. Just leave it all to me. I will take care of you. Guaranteed. ?
***
B(get out of Cali!),can you back your bank reserves with say tulip bulbs?!
This is Why the corrupt Elites want us fighting each other. If not for that, we’d be hunting these mutha-fckers down and hang ’em. from the lamp post’s.
Wells Fargo made us wait a few years ago on a funds transfer. In the big scheme of things, it wasn’t that much and I didn’t see why the lag time. It makes more sense now… funny money.
2isone
Day trading. They make massive money day trading your held Money.
No one is talking about how these employees have been threatened to be fired for years if they don’t reach unattainable goals. People with bills to pay thought what they were doing would cause little to no harm and the bank knew for years and said nothing. Until someone sued then all of a sudden the front line bank teller who is making 9 dollars an hour is the master mind behind a 100 million dollar fraud. Really, people believe that? The bank and exit ice management created this environment not those 5300 employees. However they are to blame not WF CEO who received a 158 million dollar bonus ( sarcasm). Elites make all the money and us nobody’s get our lives ruined and names dragged through the dirt. Time is comin to burn this system to the ground.
Yep. Of course this is pushed from top down. As if 5300 regular employees would do it without extreme pressure.
Hmmmm…185 million to the crooks in govt from the crooks in banking who likely kept at least that much again in profits.
Sounds like business as usual for both sides with the average guy footing the bill.
The ( elites ) Or the people who have inherited a lot of money. Know ww3 will cover their tracks. And they will buy up your destroyed property for pennies. And pay you food and water to rebuild it for them. Just like ww2 . It’s all part of the plan. We should be used to it by now. They will do it again 70 years from now . When most who remember are dead. But as written this time the Tares get burnt. I sometimes think I would like to watch them burn. But why bother we will have better things to do.