
Key to the Wells Fargo-Fed Deal: Holding Directors Accountable - rectang
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/04/business/wells-fargo-fed-board-directors-penalties.html
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rectang
As a society, we can't trust the hands-off investors who own publicly-held
companies to prevent unethical or even criminal behavior. For all those who
divest themselves from a rapacious company like Wells Fargo, there will always
be other investors who will happily pay a slightly lower price and who will
ask no questions.

I'm not at all convinced that oversight of directors by the Fed is an
effective way to bring rampaging corporate monsters under control.

Instead, companies should not be treated as people, and they should not have
the same rights as people. (For instance, their ability to engage in political
activities and lobbying should be more constrained.). They are not people,
they are soulless beasts single-mindedly devoted to the bottom line.

That's all we should ever ask them to be. They have great use in driving our
economy, but we need to understand their nature.

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Powerofmene
Until fraud and deceit stop being the go to business method, accountability
will not deter this type of behavior. Just as we see with big pharma and here
in banking, when the income from fraud far exceeds the penalty, these business
methods and strategies will not change.

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rectang
> Until fraud and deceit stop being the go to business method

But how can that happen? If fraud is the most profitable stratagem, it will
always be chosen -- if not by one company, then by its competitor.

