You don't need to use big banks to participate in the financial system. It's easy to get federal assistance to set up your very own credit union. The members of

You don't need to use big banks to participate in the financial system. It's easy to get federal assistance to set up your very own credit union. The members of the union often pay $1 to buy a single share of the credit union, so its owned by its own members, with everyone having equal representation. They offer checking and savings accounts, along with personal loans and mortgages. You do need investment banks to e.g. IPO your company or issue corporate bonds. Let's ignore that issue, since the typical person doesn't 'have to' IPO their company or get multiple billions of dollars in bonds issued. For the fraud, let's pick on a specific company: Goldman Sachs. Everyone hates Goldman Sachs. I hate Goldman Sachs. Their CEO at the time was Lloyd Blankfein. What did Lloyd Blankfein do that was considered fraud and that should land him in jail? I don't believe that Goldman directly loans money for mortgages, so he should be immune to criticisms of mortgage fraud on any specific application. If you were going to prosecute him, which event would you focus on?