By Aruna Viswanatha
WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators on Tuesday
questioned whether the Justice Department has been aggressive
enough in prosecuting misconduct at the largest banks and asked
the department to turn over information on how it determines
punishments.
Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who chairs a Senate Banking
subcommittee, and Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the
Senate Judiciary Committee, said they are worried that certain
Wall Street banks enjoy "too big to fail" status in enforcement
policy, resulting in disproportionately low penalties.
The requests come amid renewed interest in whether U.S.
authorities have held accountable the institutions and
individuals who contributed to the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the senators
asked whether the Justice Department ever failed to prosecute
any institutions due to concern about the stability of the
financial markets or imposed a penalty that reflected such
concerns.
They asked Holder to name outside experts that prosecutors
consulted in making decisions about charging financial
institutions with more than $1 billion in assets. Brown and
Grassley also asked for copies of any contracts with such
experts.
Justice Department officials have said they are required to
consider collateral consequences when deciding whether to charge
a company.
"Our markets will only function efficiently if participants
believe that all laws will be enforced consistently, and that
violators will be punished to the fullest extent of the law,"
the two senators wrote. "There should not be one set of rules
that apply to Wall Street and another set for the rest of us."
The Justice Department has entered into several major
settlements related to financial misconduct in recent months.
London-based bank HSBC agreed in December to pay $1.9
billion to resolve charges that it failed to maintain an
effective anti-money laundering program. In exchange for
improving its compliance program, the department agreed to defer
and eventually drop criminal charges.
Last month, Swiss bank UBS agreed to pay some $1.5 billion
and its Japan unit pleaded guilty to a criminal charge in
connection with its role in manipulating benchmark interest
rates.
"We have received the letter and are reviewing it," Justice
Department spokeswoman Rebekah Carmichael said.
Follow us on Twitter @ReutersLegal | Like us on Facebook