Are Banks Trying To One-Up Each Other With Stupid, Post-Crash Behavior?

by YCharts Staff July 13, 2012

It's been almost four years since Lehman collapsed and banks' subprime lending inanity brought the financial system to the brink. It's starting to feel like banks miss all the attention they got back then, when Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein, et al starred in best-selling books and got portrayed by real-live Hollywood actors.

How else to explain the recent rush of stories? Earlier this week, a report in the Wall Street Journal said a violent drug cartel had been funneling money through Bank of America (BAC). Now the New York Times says HSBC (HBC) plans to apologize to U.S. lawmakers for its own money-laundering activities, apparently linked to terrorism and drugs. And, of course, JPMorgan (JPM) finally made it official that it's had $5.8 billion in losses, so far, thanks to some bad derivatives bets.

Guys, knock it off. You're not helping yourselves.