Big drop in federal prosecutions of banks

These numbers from Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse provide ammunition to those who believe that bankers have been given a free pass. From Economix:

During the first 11 months of the 2011 fiscal year, the federal government filed 1,251 new prosecutions for financial institution fraud. If that pace continues, TRAC projects a total of 1,365 prosecutions for the fiscal year. That's less than half the total a decade ago.

This category can include bank executives who mislead regulators and mortgage brokers who falsify loan documents.