Tricolor Me Blue
JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Fifth Third Bank can't escape the obvious conclusions as they defend themselves in a subprime auto lending debacle
This Week In Blunders – April 19-25
“At best you were incompetent, at worst you were complicit. Either way, you should be fired.” – Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren addressing Well’s Fargo’s CEO about its fake accounts scandal in 2017.
JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Fifth Third Bank are trying to dodge an investor lawsuit tied to the collapse of Tricolor Holdings, a once-prominent subprime auto lender and used car dealer.
Investors claim the banks helped finance and market securities backed by Tricolor’s loans while ignoring “giant red flags,” including audit findings. Its CEO Daniel Chu and other top executives have been charged with fraud.
A judge is now considering the bank’s defense: They didn’t know. They were blindsided.
Tricolor’s recklessness should not have been difficult to miss. But bankers love anyone they can charge usurious interest rates, and such love is indeed blind.
