At first glance, the numbers look impressive. Bank of America Corp. last week agreed to pay $11.6 billion for selling the government toxic mortgages; 10 banks ponied up $8.5 billion to federal regulators for foreclosure abuses. But viewed against the scale of the financial meltdown, the feds most recent deals with financial-industry giants look to some more like a slap on the wrist.
It’s all part of the government’s push-and-pull with banks, where regulators are both determined to punish wrongdoers, but also tasked with promoting stability in the financial markets. The result is a pair of imperfect settlements that look good mainly when compared with other, even more flawed compromises, such as Freddie Mac’s deal with BoA two years ago for far less money.
