Uh, Would You Please Explain That Explanation?

If you think that by doing a certain thing you risk either a charter being revoked, you think that counter-parties in a massive financial institution may go away, you think that there is a risk that many, many innocent people will be harmed from a resolution and by another resolution you think you can mitigate the risk of innocent people suffering, the economy being affected, and you can hone in on those and the institutions and address the issues underlying. To the Department of Justice, that's a very real factor, and so it is a factor you consider.

--Lanny Breuer, (here) former assistant attorney general for the criminal division of the Justice Department's response when asked why the agency did not pursue a criminal indictment against a British banking monstrosity, which had ... well ... broken the rules.