Results of the Bloomberg Global Poll revealed that 31% of respondents believed that the fines levied against banks who sold shoddy mortgage bonds were not sufficient to change the bad behavior of lenders. The poll was conducted by public opinion research firm Selzer & Co based in Des Moines, Iowa. Of the 750 respondents who participated, 38% believed that the settlements with regulators and the fines in general were excessive and politically motivated. Only 20% said the fines were justified by the amount of wrongdoing while 11% said they have no idea.
The participants in the survey were Bloomberg customers and included analysts, traders and bankers. The poll also asked respondents about the penalties assessed against banks for actions like selling faulty mortgage bonds, manipulating interest rates and other allegations. Twenty-eight percent believed that that the fines were too high. This result was at par with the 28% who believed that the fines issued were just right. Meanwhile, 26% of the respondents said the penalties imposed where too low while 18% said they had no idea.
David Jaderlund, one of the respondents of the survey, told Bloomberg, "All of us saw what happened in 2008 where these abuses literally could have taken down our financial system and likely should have. No one's really gone to prison for all of this, no one's even gone to court. You see these guys testify before Congress, but why aren't they in jail?" Jaderlund is an independent municipal bond trader based in New Mexico.
The poll also asked respondents their opinion on the legal costs, such as the USD 28 billion JPMorgan had set aside or spent, for big banks. Thirty-seven percent said the expenses had already reached its peak and are likely to decrease over time. Meanwhile, 30% of the respondents believed that the expenses are likely to remain at the same level for some time. Only 19% believed the legal expenses will increase even more.
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