Today's fines will scare off tomorrow's white knights

Billions of dollars in fines have recently been imposed on US companies for activities that occurred before the offending business units were acquired. David Rowe argues this will make future crises harder to manage and more severe

Shadowy legal proceedings in the US have led, in recent years, to billions of dollars in business fines for offences such as "contributing to the financial crisis". In late August, The Economist published an excellent analysis of how these acts have undermined the rule of law.¹ In many cases, the proceeds of the fines have largely been used to fund the activities of the very prosecutors who effectively sit as both judge and jury in such cases. Unfortunately, the draconian consequences of a