Trader crimes are not so much about screwing the employer. It's often aligned with the incentives of the employer i.e. make as much money as possible. The crime is more in that they use unlawful methods (or take on too much risk) to earn money for their employer and thus themselves via bonuses (and status, promotions etc).
> Trader crimes are not so much about screwing the employer. It's often aligned with the incentives of the employer i.e. make as much money as possible.
This really isn't the case, at least for large banks.
Bank boards and CEOs would much rather have lower trading performance than get pulled up by regulators. It's very difficult for a bank CEO to get fired for being to cautious and regulator friendly. Mediocre financial results can always be excused in earrings calls with de-risking or social responsibility and few shareholders are interested in the political fallout of publicly disagreeing with that.
