As my colleague Rhi Bowman pointed out, new Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan admitted in Raleigh yesterday that big banks are partly responsible for the economic crisis. In similar news, Hurricane Katrina admitted that it was partly responsible for New Orleans being inconvenienced in 2005.
Moynihan also admitted that banks had increased penalty fees on its customers and that "these fees hit a small group of customers particularly hard as the economy hit the skids." What Moynihan didnt say is that those high penalty fees and loanshark-level interest rates would be going away anytime soon. Its like someone admitting hes stabbed you in the gut and then walking away without even taking the knife out.
Moynihan also said that "The vehicles and practices that got us here, and have cost our industry billions of dollars in capital through losses, have to be reformed." Which would almost be believable if BofA wasnt fighting tooth and nail in Congress, along with other big financial interests, to derail attempts to mandate reform and pass a Consumer Protection Act. Weve seen all too clearly the results of lax regulations in the banking industry, and Congress needs to move ahead quickly to get the wolves back in their pens, despite Moynihans apologetic PR moves.