Forget too big to fail. Apparently, some financial institutions are too big to prosecute.

Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that some institutions have become so massive and influential that bringing criminal charges against them could imperil the financial system and the broader economy. His remarks come as a growing number of lawmakers have suggested that big banks are, effectively, "too big to jail," The Hill reported.

Holder suggested that previous attempts to prosecute banks may have been stifled by their outsize influence, which prohibited his team from bringing “resolutions that I think would be more appropriate.”

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have all been critical of either the Department of Justice or financial regulators for failing to bring criminal charges against major financial institutions in the wake of the 2008 collapse. Holder responded that “all of the bad behavior on Wall Street leading up to the crisis may not necessarily have been criminal and that his criminal team has been "as aggressive as they could be."

The transcript of Holder’s testimony can be read here.