Elizabeth Warren: Bank Fines Don’t Work
on Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Elizabeth Warren Money Quote saying banks will not stop illegal actions until board members, executives are jailed, fired or held personally responsible. Fines don’t stop banks cheating. Elizabeth Warren said:
“Time after time, big banks cheat their customers and no actual human beings are being held accountable. Instead, there is a fine, which ultimately is paid for by shareholders and not by executives and certainly not by directors of the board. And nothing is going to change at these big banks if that doesn’t change” — Elizabeth Warren
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In this quote, Elizabeth Warren is criticizing how large banks are not properly held accountable for wrongdoing. Some key points:
- She notes that banks “cheat their customers” repeatedly over time.
- When banks are fined, no individual executives or board members face personal consequences – only shareholders pay through the fine.
- This means there is no real incentive for leadership to change behaviors if the penalties do not target them individually.
- Warren argues that as long as fines are treated simply as a business expense by banks, rather than impacting those responsible, real reform will not happen.
Overall, she is arguing the system needs to change so that bank executives and directors face direct accountability and penalties for illegal/unethical actions, in order to incentivize changed behavior and deter future misconduct.