Thats the excuse given, but it makes no sense. All you do is state "CEOs are culpable for the actions of the campany". Bam, problem solved.
Boy was I wrong. They have zero risk and pure upside of being an executive. Oh it's a hard job, it's stressful?
So is mine and I get paid peanuts in comparison!
In any large organization, there is a legal department, there is a chief legal office/General counsel. These guys train CEO enough how to pass down messages. When I was a salesman, my training team and my managers never told us to lie. However, the pressure tactics they use force sales people to lie. That's how things work.
Even if some assistant attorney/prosecutor wants to use RICO, he/she will be overruled in the same department.
Sorry, I was generalising a bit without making that explicit:
> However, the [authorities] will not [use some laws] against the elite class, as ex-prosecutors end up working for the same elite through law firms.
I meant that in practice the revolving door seems to reward tough stances more than it seems to punish them.