It would be a great day if just once — just once — the bankers who caused financial mayhem ended up in jail. That’s not going to happen in the latest charges leveled against Bank of America because the charges are civil, not criminal. But, for now, we can feel a smidgen of glee.

The new charges:

The U.S. government charged Tuesday that Bank of America Corp. defrauded investors when it sold $850 million worth of mortgage-backed securities, a new hurdle in the bank’s quest to persuade investors its legal troubles are in the past.

The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission filed parallel civil actions in federal court in North Carolina alleging that the second-largest U.S. bank by assets understated the risks associated with mortgage-backed securities in 2008.

At the end of the day, I’m sure the bank executives will cut a deal — because, after all, any fines come out of the pockets of shareholders, not the executives.