Sense on Cents

Mary Schapiro is going to be very busy today. How so?

Her presence will very much be a factor in two venues which are holding public hearings. What venues? What hearings? What will the public learn from and about Ms. Schapiro today?

Most eyes will be on Washington where Ms. Schapiro, the current SEC Chair, will be a witness in the second day of hearings of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The Commission is charged with unearthing the truth in the factors that led to our economic crisis. Should we expect any grand mea culpas from Ms. Schapiro in front of the Commission? I think not.

Ms. Schapiro and her former FINRA colleagues have proven to be artful dodgers when it comes to skirting the tough questions. Avoiding tough questions is not difficult when the questions themselves are softballs offered by her incestuous partners in Washington. When did we first witness this reality? A year ago tomorrow.

On January 15, 2009 Ms. Schapiro had her confirmation hearing to be chair of the SEC. At that point I wrote, “Let’s Really Question Ms. Schapiro…”:

In light of the disaster that is Wall Street, I do not know if I am simply dumbfounded or merely dismayed by the softball questioning of prospective SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro yesterday.

With the dissolution of the investment banking model, the massive injections of government capital, and potential indictments of major Wall Street icons in the offing, I looked forward to some very juicy testimony. The results were beyond disappointing. The public deserves so much better.

The public still deserves better.

While attention will be given to the FCIC hearings today in Washington, I would strongly encourage America to redirect its focus to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Mary Schapiro will not be physically present in the courtroom this afternoon, but her presence will be very much felt. In fact, Ms. Schapiro will be the focus of the hearing before Judge Jed Rakoff.

“Will America Learn Thursday if Mary Schapiro is a Liar?” addresses the allegation (embedded in a lawsuit brought by Standard Investment Chartered v. Mary Schapiro et al) that our current SEC Chair lied verbally and in a proxy statement regarding the merger that formed Wall Street’s self-regulator, FINRA.

I am already convinced that Ms. Schapiro is a liar. Why? Jonathan Cuneo, attorney representing Standard Investment Chartered, revealed Ms. Schapiro’s lie in Judge Rakoff’s courtroom in December. Given that, you are probably wondering what might be the purpose of today’s hearing. Today we will learn if  Judge Rakoff will allow FINRA documents encompassing Ms. Schapiro’s lie to be publicly released per request of Dow Jones, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and Sense on Cents (My letter to Judge Rakoff).
The dollar value of Ms. Schapiro and other defendants’ lie is $175-350 million. Yes, that’s right. $175-350 MILLION.

Would the commissioners on the FCIC have the courage to question Mary Schapiro about the issues being addressed in Judge Rakoff’s courtroom this afternoon? These issues go to the core of our economic crisis. How so? They reflect the deeply incestuous nature of the relationship between the large Wall Street banks and their self-regulator, FINRA.

If Mary Schapiro is sweating today, you can rest assured it will not be due to the questioning in Washington.

Here’s hoping Judge Rakoff rules for the public release of the FINRA documents so America can start to get the truth, transparency, and integrity the nation deserves.

LD

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 9:24 AM and is filed under General, Mary Schapiro. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.