For example, more than one thousand people were held criminally liable when many US savings and loans associations folded in the 1980’s. On the other hand, with the possible exception of a handful of cases such as that of Bernie Madoff, no criminal prosecutions were undertaken against the staff and management of financial institutions during the recent crisis.
Today, it is much more difficult to pinpoint those players who actually give rise to risk because the “originate and distribute” model passes on and spreads out heavy risks into a myriad of lesser risks. “CDOs (Collateralized Debt Obligations)”, frequently cited of the major causes of the sub-prime crisis, are a case in point.