John Kasich hints at ‘tough judgment’ that could come later for some on Wall Street

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who is scheduled to announce his 2016 plans next week, said there is an element of greed on Wall Street that is “not good” and hinted at a potential judgment to come for bankers who might have escaped criminal prosecution.

“I think there is an element of greed on Wall Street that is not good,” Mr. Kasich, who worked as an executive at Lehman Brothers before it collapsed in 2008, told CNBC’s John Harwood. “There are some people there who would advise a company to do something that wasn’t in their best interest, because if a company does something, that banker would get paid. When the greed factor goes high, then I think mistakes get made.”

Mr. Kasich was asked if it was wrong that no big Wall Street bankers have gone to jail in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

“If there’s something to prosecute somebody for, you prosecute them,” he said. “Just because you do something that’s greedy that can end up in failure doesn’t mean you committed a crime. But you know what? The fact that you didn’t commit a crime here — there’s a judgment that comes later about how many people get hurt. And frankly, that’s a pretty tough judgment in my opinion.”

Mr. Kasich looked back at his time in the position.

“It was a fantastic experience to see the way CEOs think, the way that boards of directors work,” Mr. Kasich said. “I wasn’t in that to do politics. … I was there to try to add value to the teams of people who were trying to add values to companies.”