ALMOST 80 YEARS LATER, THE SOULS OF THE BANKSTERS HAVEN'T CHANGED MUCH

The Pecora Committee published the report of its investigation of the causes of the Great Depression on June 16, 1934 and Ferdinand Pecora himself wrote a book, "Wall Street Under Oath," which highlighted the most important results, including this one:

The testimony had brought to light a shocking corruption in our banking system, a widespread repudiation of old fashioned standards of honesty and fair dealing in the creation and sale of securities, and a merciless exploitation of the vicious possibilities of intricate corporate chicanery.  The public had been deeply aroused by the spectacle of cynical disregard of fiduciary duty on the part of many of its most respected leaders; of directors, who conveniently subordinated their official obligations to an avid pursuit of personal gain; of great banks, which combined the functions of a bank with those of a stock jobber; of supposedly impartial public markets for the sale of securities, actually operated as private clubs for the individual benefit of their members.