Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

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Movie
Original title Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2016
length 88 minutes
Rod
Director Steve James
production Mark Mitten,
Julie Goldman
music Joshua Abrams
camera Tom Bergmann
cut John Farbrother,
David E. Simpson

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail is an American documentary from the year 2016 by Steve James . The focus of the film is the Abacus Federal Savings Bank , a family-run community bank in Manhattan's Chinatown , New York City , which because it is "small enough to jail" and not " too big to fail " ("too big to fail") was believed to be the only financial institution against which criminal charges were actually filed after the subprime mortgage crisis .

content

The documentary features interviews with the Sung family and other former / current Abacus employees, New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and his staff, and defense lawyers Kevin Puvalowski and Rusty Wise. There's also some story about Abacus, edited together with scenes from It's a Wonderful Life , which was a source of inspiration for founder / chairman Thomas Sung when he led the institution through a bank run in 2003. The documentary also sheds light on many Sino-American business idiosyncrasies, such as: B. Shops and restaurants that only pay with cash and that do not report the full income to the tax office, parents who give their children "gifts" instead of loans, and the distinction between the legal name of a person / unit and the Colloquial / personal name. Neil Barofsky , former United States Treasury Department Special Inspector General who oversaw the Troubled Assets Relief Program ( TARP ), noted that many Abacus borrowers and loan officers may have misrepresented loan applications, which is strictly illegal and therefore criminal. However, it should be noted that the loans have a very low default rate, which distinguishes them from typical mortgage fraudsters who have no intention of repaying loans. Barofsky also pointed out that there never was the pursuit of the widespread Subprime Mortgage and Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO), which were conducted to maximize profit without regard to risk, despite their much greater social and economic impact compared to that Abacus Bank Credit Practices.

Awards

The film premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival , where it came second in the audience award in the documentary category. The film was nominated for an Oscar in the “ Best Documentary ” category at the 90th Academy Awards.

reception

Abacus received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes , the movie has a 94% rating based on 66 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4 / 10. On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 73 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 'Abacus: Small Enough to Jail': Film Review. In: TIFF 2016. The Hollywood Reporter , September 12, 2016, accessed January 14, 2019 .
  2. ↑ 'Abacus: Small Enough to Jail' tells story of only bank indicted after 2008 mortgage crisis. In: As It Happens . September 12, 2016, accessed January 14, 2019 .
  3. ↑ http://www.krplawpc.com/media.htm
  4. ↑ La La Land wins the People's Choice Award at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. In: National Post. September 18, 2016, accessed January 13, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Academy Award Winners 2018: The Complete List. In: variety.com. March 4, 2018, accessed January 13, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Abacus: Small Enough to Jail bei Rotten Tomatoes (English)Template: Rotten Tomatoes / Maintenance / "imported from" is missing
  7. ^ Abacus: Small Enough to Jail Reviews. In: Metacritic. CBS Interactive, accessed January 14, 2019 .

Web links