Sense on Cents

PLEASE READ and ENDORSE THIS CALL for an INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION. PLEASE SHARE. Thanks!! LD

I have publicly stated time and again that I believe the Wall Street self-regulatory organization, FINRA, did sit and likely still sits at the nexus of the Wall Street-Washington incest that has brought our nation’s economy to its knees.

Regrettably, we have had no Congressional inquiries into the failures at FINRA. Dare I say, we have had no public pressure from the media to drive a Congressional inquiry.

I am tremendously sickened by Congress not working for America’s citizens interests by investigating FINRA. Please recall that FINRA not only failed to protect investors, but there are strong allegations that FINRA itself participated in some of the greatest frauds on Wall Street via its own internal investment portfolio. Which frauds?

We know they dumped $647 million auction-rate securities in mid-2007 and likely front ran the ARS market while doing it. I unearthed the fact that FINRA owned these ARS in January 2009 when reading FINRA’s 2007 Annual Report. Meanwhile, $150 BILLION held by thousands of investors remains in frozen ARS investments.

There is an outstanding allegation that FINRA invested its own funds in Bernie Madoff. We know they failed to properly regulate and monitor Lehman, Bear Stears, and Merrill Lynch. How much more should Congress need to know?

FINRA needs to be introduced to the American public and investigated by Congress. FINRA has not even received direct focus or attention in Senator Dodd’s proposed Financial Regulatory Reform.

We can sit idly by and allow Wall Street and Congress to dictate to us or we can do something. I choose the latter. I want this post and this site to be the lightning rod to bring attention to how Wall Street’s self-regulation, embodied in FINRA, drove our economy into the ditch.

Please add your support by leaving a comment endorsing this investigation. I intend to keep a focus on this topic until FINRA’s failures are fully exposed and people are held to account. Get your friends and colleagues to do the same. If we can create a groundswell of support, I feel confident I can get some selected media friends to pick this up. From there, I welcome leading this march to Washington.

The American public and American investors deserve nothing else.

Any questions. Please do not hesitate to ask here or write me at senseoncents@aol.com.

Who’s with me?

FINRA must be independently investigated. America needs to learn how the Wall Street cop was not only asleep, but also in bed with the financial industry as Wall Street brought America to the brink of disaster.

LD