BANKING

Bush Fell Short on S&L; Cleanup: The Bush Administration fell short of its promised effort to combat the multibillion-dollar fraud that led to the collapse of banks and thrifts nationwide, congressional investigators have asserted. The General Accounting Office said the former President’s Justice Department treated the bank fraud debacle like “other enforcement matters” and allowed bureaucratic turf battles to prevent a coordinated attack. In particular, the GAO said that while the department won convictions in 95% of the cases it brought, it created just two of the 26 special task forces that former Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh had promised to step up prosecution. The government has also managed to collect just 4.5% of the $846 million in fines and judgments imposed in fraud cases, the report notes.