JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SEC: “The U.S. Justice Department is weighing whether a financial enforcement task force created during the Obama administration in the wake of the housing crisis is still relevant, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Wednesday [10-25-17].
The department’s scrutiny of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force is part of a broader review by a new working group, which Rosenstein said will be offering up suggestions ‘on promoting individual accountability and corporate cooperation.’…
The group was tasked with unearthing fraud following the 2007-2009 financial crisis, including fraud related to toxic mortgage securities that were sold to investors and soured as homeowners defaulted on their mortgages.
The Justice Department was heavily criticized during the Obama administration for its lackluster record on bringing criminal cases against big banks and their executives following the crisis.
The five-year statute of limitations to bring criminal charges has long since lapsed. However, the department in recent years has brought a number of high-profile civil cases against big banks using the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, which has a 10-year statute of limitations.
The task force was credited by the department in helping bring a number of those crisis-era cases, as well as other cases unrelated to the crisis, such as criminal charges against a former Valeant executive in connection with an alleged kickback scheme.”
-Sarah N. Lynch, “Justice Department weighs changes to Obama-era financial task force,” Reuters, Oct. 25, 2017 07:03am