G. Kennedy Thompson of court a case in which it allegedly laundered over $378 billion in cash and traveler's checks from Mexican drug cartels in the years 2004 - 2006, during Thompson's tenure as CEO. Terms of the settlement included a $110 million forfeiture and a $50 million fine. Thompson was pushed out of Wachovia Bank (WB) on June 2, 2008, as head of the nation’s fourth-largest bank, becoming the latest financial services executive to be ousted amid turmoil in the U.S. housing market. Thompson will not receive any incentive pay for the 2008 fiscal year, but according to a filing with the
Credit crunch cash flow from investments; only the appreciating asset value can keep the Ponzi borrower afloat. Often it is only in retrospect that participants in an economic bubble realize that the point of collapse was obvious. In this respect, economic bubbles can have dynamic characteristics not unlike Ponzi schemes or Pyramid schemes. Several psychological factors contribute to bubbles and related busts. These and other cognitive biases that impair judgment can contribute to credit bubbles and crunches. The crunch is generally caused by a reduction in the market prices of previously "overinflated" assets and refers to the financial crisis that results from