Gretchen Morgenson in NYT on retired government employees being secretly charged for penalties on Private Equity's bid-rigging:
large buyout firms had colluded to suppress the share prices of companies they were acquiring. ... without admitting wrongdoing. Carlyle agreed to pay $115 million in the settlement. But the firm didn’t shoulder those costs. Nor did Carlyle executives or shareholders.
Instead ... settlement costs that are not covered by insurance [will be borne by] ... retired state and city employees in California, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas and 10 other states. Five New York City and state pensions are among them.
The retirees — and people who are currently working but have accrued benefits in those pension funds — probably don’t know that they are responsible for these costs. It would be very hard for them to find out: Their legal obligations are detailed in private equity documents that are confidential and off limits to pensioners
This takes the concept of
'Socializing Losses and Privatizing Profits'
...to a whole new level:
'Socialized Penalties for Privatized Fraud'