Sense on Cents

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is charged with the following:

… a bipartisan commission that has been given a critical non-partisan mission — to examine the causes of the financial crisis that has gripped the country and to report our findings to the Congress, the President, and the American people.

So far, I would grade the Commission’s work as an F, as in failing . . . as in f@*%ing pathetic. Why so harsh?  

The FCIC has allowed those who have presented to stick to script, and defined the crisis as the proverbial thousand year storm. From regulators to bank execs to ratings agencies, the Commission has brought NOTHING new to the American public that it did not already know before the hearings.  While I have been somewhat impressed with a few aggressive lines of questioning by some commissioners (Bill Thomas, Brooksley Born, Heather Murren), America has yet to receive that “Wow, are you kidding me?” moment that it so desperately wants.

Will America receive it? When and how might that “Wow” moment occur? If, and only if, the commission gets Mary Schapiro back on the stand, has her take the oath, and reveal what was going on inside of FINRA.

America still does not know who and what FINRA is. The American public is largely unfamiliar with the concept of a self-regulatory structure for Wall Street. The Commission will maintain its failing grade unless it brings FINRA out of the shadows.

If you are reading this, I encourage you to copy and paste this article to the FCIC’s Contact Us link and compel them to question Ms. Schapiro about FINRA. I have already sent all of my information about FINRA to the Commission. I have also sent it to the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations.

If the FCIC truly wants to uphold its charge as specified above, stop allowing the Wall Street and Washington crony capitalists to stonewall the process. Break down this wall, Mr. Angelides!! Question FINRA about all of its investment activities, including allegations that FINRA had money with Bernie Madoff. Subpoena FINRA’s books and records to expose details surrounding FINRA’s sale of auction-rate securities in mid-2007.  Expose the inherent conflicts of interest in the self-regulatory model for Wall Street.

To date, America has not received any new information from the FCIC. If the FCIC does not question Schapiro about FINRA, it is doomed to go into history as nothing more than a sham.

LD

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 11:03 AM and is filed under FCIC, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.