Major Banks $320 bn in fines since financial crisis

Regulators have levied financial penalties of $321 billion on banks globally since the 2007-2008 financial crisis, following regulatory lapses, global currency scandals, and market manipulation, according to a note by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Almost ten years since the financial crisis, the banking industry has not completely recovered, BCG said in an industry report.

A number of factors have helped drive this trend, including a more concerted focus from US regulators such as the US’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). However, an overall more aggressive tone from US regulators has helped punish fraudulent behavior, accruing record fines over this period, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

Fines reached a nadir in 2010, topping out at nearly $9.0 billion for big banks – by 2014 this number had swelled to over $76.0 billion, corresponding with the aforementioned scandals. Despite falling over the past two years, 2016 still saw over $42.0 billion in fines doled out.

Even though U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered reviews for possible regulatory changes and legislations modifying the Dodd-Frank Act, the consulting group said regulatory impacts would continue to cost banks a lot going forward.
Trump and other critics of the Dodd-Frank law say its regulations have hindered lending. In February, Trump ordered reviews of major banking rules that were put in place after the 2008 financial crisis, in favour of looser banking regulation.