S&L Relic Is Sword of Choice in U.S. Bid to Punish Banks
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Weeks after taking over as the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan in 2009, Preet Bharara said he considered whether his office could hold individuals and banks liable for the financial crisis when there wasn’t enough evidence to bring a criminal case.
During an interview in his office overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge, Bharara recalled that he came upon an idea after long talks with staffers: maybe lawyers in the office’s civil division could go after these cases. After months of research, prosecutors dusted off the Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, known as FIRREA.