Tax cheats find a friend

Named Eric Holder. Joe Nocera tells why in the New York Times:

“This case shows that no financial institution, no matter its size or global reach, is above the law,” said Holder at a news conference.

In fact, it shows nothing of the sort. Yes, Credit Suisse agreed to pay $2.6 billion; that’s real money, but nothing a bank its size can’t handle. And yes, three years ago, seven midlevel Credit Suisse executives were indicted. But in the just-announced settlement, no one in top management was forced to resign. The U.S. wanted the names of the Americans with private Credit Suisse bank accounts; Justice settled without getting them. And, most amazing of all, pleading guilty to a felony will have absolutely no business consequences for Credit Suisse. For instance, a Securities and Exchange Commission rule forbids a firm convicted of a felony from serving as an investment adviser; the rule was temporarily waived for Credit Suisse.

As its chief executive, Brady Dougan, put it in a conference call with media and analysts after the guilty plea, “We have found no instances where clients cannot do business with us.”

What Brady Dougan meant is he doesn't mind doing business with criminals.

Crime scene

Sure would be nice to learn the names of those 22,000 patriots with numbered accounts.

For the Swiss, business as usual. They collaborated with the Nazis to rob Jews, and still are (probably) holding some of that loot.