Consulting firms were hired by banks to escape regulatory scrutiny. Over 14 months, the consultants collected about $2 billion in fees, more than half of what homeowners will receive under the $8.5 billion mortgage impropriety settlement. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/doubt-is-cast-on-firms-hired-to-help-banks/?hp Consultants were supposed to clean up financial misdeeds like money laundering and foreclosure abuses and to flag suspicious transfers.