I won't say there aren't crooks out there, but I think you completely overstate the case. Most of the institutions you name have been stung by this market meltdown. These market conditions have appeared from time to time and we are just lucky to have it happen in our times. For the most part, most of us are down the amount we re because we were too greedy and/or too lax in not taking steps to preserve our capital. Myself included. Blaming others won't help you one bit.

Just my 2 cents.