The notion of too big to jail just got very serious as the nation’s chief attorney agreed with the idea that financial institutions are too large to prosecute.
US Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill today, and discussed the lack of criminal cases against financial institutions in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
That’s been a point of irritation and frustration for many in Washington and across the country who feel big banks that were partially responsible for the credit and housing bubble yet went unpunished. Instead, they were given billions in federal bailout money because they were deemed too big to fail. And now while their stocks recover the rest of the economy is barely trudging along.
Holder’s remarks today may add fuel to that fire.
“I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy,” he said. “And I think that is a function of the fact that some of these institutions have become too large.”
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