Sense on Cents

Wall Street has a funny way of meting out justice. All too often, investors are left with little more than ‘caveat emptor’ when it comes to engaging large Wall Street institutions. Beyond that, the SEC and FINRA are often critiqued for being more closely aligned with the industry than with investors. I was reminded of this fact when reading last week that the SEC settled with Citigroup for a token $75 million regarding Citi’s disclosure, or lack thereof, of its sub-prime holdings in the midst of our economic crisis.

My ‘sense on cents’ view of the world made me think that Citi got off awfully cheap for having misrepresented its financial positions. If $75 million is all it costs for misrepresentation of financial documents, then America should ready itself for a whole lot of misrepresentation. Thankfully, a judge threw a quick yellow flag on the field while indicating that this play needed further review.

The Wall Street Journal highlights this story in reporting, Judge Won’t Approve Citi-SEC Pact:

A federal judge refused to approve the Securities and Exchange Commission’s $75 million settlement with Citigroup Inc. over the bank’s disclosure of subprime-mortgage problems, saying she is “baffled” by the proposed pact.

The move by U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle represents another challenge for the SEC as it tries to punish financial institutions blamed for the financial crisis.

The judge, striking a frustrated tone, fired several questions at the SEC, among them why it pursued only two individuals in the case and why Citigroup shareholders should have to pay for the alleged sins of bank executives.

“I look at this and say, ‘Why would I find this fair and reasonable?'” the judge told both sides at a 90-minute hearing. “You expect the court to rubber-stamp, but we can’t.”

How is it that the SEC can so blatantly miss the target on situations such as this? Are they so far ‘off key’ in understanding what is fair and just? Do they run these situations up a judicial flagpole prior to dispensing this so-called justice? How can investors regain a sense of confidence and protection when a judge, such as Judge Huvelle, so quickly and emphatically responds by throwing out the SEC ruling?

For those who care to review the 2-page brief provided by Judge Huvelle, thanks to a regular Sense on Cents reader for providing us with the SEC vs Citigroup brief. Judge Huvelle asks the pointed questions which America deserves answered.

In light of everything that has transpired on Wall Street and throughout our nation, American investors and our citizens at large truly deserve so much better from the SEC. If Mary Schapiro and team are trying to convey a message that they are working hard on the American public’s behalf, then they need to work a lot harder than this. Sense on Cents is not making that unilateral statement. All one needs to do is read Judge Huvelle’s brief to come to that simple conclusion.

Comments and constructive criticisms encouraged and appreciated.

Larry Doyle

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have no affiliation or business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. As President of Greenwich Investment Management, an SEC regulated privately held registered investment adviser, I am merely a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 2:09 PM and is filed under Citigroup, General, SEC. 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.