RSS Feed
Twitter
Facebook
Email
HomeWhat Is Really Going On at The SEC?
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 11th, 2014 9:38 AM |
If we thought that our nation’s top financial cops had embraced the mantel of truly protecting the public interest, a recent story put forth by CNBC gives us serious reason to pause in that assessment.
This story addresses a leak inside the commission and generates far more questions than answers as to what is really going on inside the offices of the SEC.
Let’s navigate, review, and critique how the SEC Probes Its Own Leak But Can’t Find Culprit:
The inspector general of the Securities and Exchange Commission conducted an intensive, months-long dragnet in 2013 and 2014 involving phone, email and security searches to determine who inside the agency allegedly leaked information to the media about a closed commission meeting discussing the massive JPMorgan “London Whale” settlement, CNBC has learned.
Whistleblower Appreciation Day: My Top 5
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 31st, 2014 9:40 AM |
Not a day goes by in which the citizens of our nation are not forced to continue to wade through a financial-political-regulatory cesspool of real cronyism and corruption.
The stench from this menage-a-trois is overpowering. Transparency is the only real disinfectant.
Who provides that transparency? Whistleblowers.
We owe immeasurable thanks to our fellow brethren who have taken immeasurable personal and professional risks to expose real waste, fraud, and abuse emanating from that cesspool. In honor of these true patriots a resolution was passed earlier this week designating July 30, 2014 as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day.
Let’s navigate. (more…)
SEC Failures in Systems and Controls: Matter of National Security
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 18th, 2014 7:20 AM |
As I sit here collecting my thoughts in the early morning hours of April 18, 2014, I think back to the chilling days of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001.
Most reading this will certainly never forget the tragedy that is forever known as 9-11. However, that fateful day was foreshadowed 8 years prior when another World Trade Center bombing took place. Both attacks were clear-cut indications that terrorist forces were at work to assault American interests by massively disrupting activity on Wall Street. We live with this reality each and every day knowing that these same forces remain at work.
After the attack of 1993, Wall Street firms began implementing significant measures for disaster recovery programs and information systems controls. Against that 20 plus year backdrop, I have to admit I am bewildered if not totally dismayed this morning. Why so? Stick with me here. (more…)
Do You Trust Uncle Sam?
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 20th, 2012 9:01 AM |
Don’t believe anything that you read or hear and only half of what you see…
Almost from the outset of launching my blog back in early 2009, I coined the phrase the Uncle Sam economy to describe the massive presence and ultimate takeover of so many parts of our economy by the old man. I cautioned people that Uncle Sam was not a good business partner.
What makes a good business partner? Anybody involved in business knows there will be many times when you disagree with your partners. Disagreeing with partners will not kill a business relationship. What will kill a relationship? A lack of trust.
Given that we are all in business with Uncle Sam whether we like it or not, I ask, “Do you trust Uncle Sam?” (more…)
Profiles in Courage Blowing the Whistle
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 22nd, 2012 2:01 PM |
I have crossed paths with some exceptionally interesting people while navigating our economic landscape and writing Sense on Cents over the last few years. These individuals encompass a wide swath of our American population and include investors, economists, lawyers, consumers, small businesspeople, bankers, students, and so many more.
While I admire and respect most of the people with whom I interact, there are a handful who truly occupy a very special place in my heart and in the Sense on Cents Hall of Fame. Who are these people whom I consider true American heroes? (more…)
Judge Rakoff: “Truth is Confined to Secretive, Fearful Whispers”
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 28th, 2011 6:53 PM |
Many participants in our financial markets and political circles clearly have little interest in allowing a full exposition of facts and figures on a wide array of topics. Why let those trifling principles get in the way of maximizing profits and currying favor for political gain, right?
“That’s not how we roll” here at Sense on Cents. Truth, transparency, and integrity are ALWAYS the order of the day.
Our prized virtues may not be embraced in our nation and the world at large, but that does not mean we should or will ever forsake them. (more…)
SEC Attorney Darcy Flynn Blows Whistle on Wall Street-Washington Incest….MUST READ…
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 17th, 2011 4:33 PM |
BOMBSHELL!!!
Since early 2009 I have written at length about the regulatory capture that has dominated the financial industry. I have defined this concept in layman’s terms as the Wall Street-Washington incest. Today a close friend and regular reader of Sense on Cents shares a story which blows the cover off this incest.
This story is written by Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi, perhaps Wall Street’s greatest nemesis. I commend him and those from whom he has sourced this information to have the courage of their conviction and the embodiment of the true American spirit to bring this story to light.
I ardently believe this expose should lead to public Congressional hearings and ultimately a federal judicial inquiry. Might it be the beginning of the end for Mary Schapiro? (more…)
Revisiting the Sense on Cents Halls of Fame/Shame
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 28th, 2011 7:31 AM |
For those who love baseball, summer is not only a time for taking in a ballgame (like today’s matinee at Fenway Park between our beloved 1st place Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals) but also for paying a visit to the Hall of Fame.
Baseball fans of all ages love to make the pilgrimage to the hallowed hall in Cooperstown, New York.
Fans of Sense on Cents are well aware that yours truly has inducted worthy and deserving recipients into both wings of our own hall here over the course of the year. Just yesterday, I inducted Muddy Water’s Carson Block into the Sense on Cents Hall of Fame.
While I take the boys to the ballpark, I hope readers, both new and old, may like to pay a visit to the Sense on Cents Halls of Fame and Shame a/o year end 2010.
I provided the following ceremonial tribute and induction at the end of last year.
Enjoy!! (more…)
“The SEC: Designed for Failure”
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 20th, 2010 4:08 PM |
Thank you to a loyal Sense on Cents reader for providing a recently released report by the U. S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform entitled The SEC: Designed for Failure.
Much of what the American public has been fed about the SEC has been produced by the SEC itself. With all due respect to SEC Office of Inspector General David Kotz, who is widely respected, the other internal reports produced by the SEC have the stamp of career regulator Mary Schapiro. Regular readers of Sense on Cents know I have little regard for Mary.
This Congressional committee is led by Darrell Issa (R-CA). The report highlights that amongst the SEC’s issues, a lack of funding was not one of them. What else did the report find? What does it recommend?
Executive Summary (more…)
Wall Street Journal Book Review Unfairly Slams Harry Markopolos
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 9th, 2010 12:04 PM |
People in glass houses should not throw stones.
That simple piece of wisdom is both timeless and precious. Regrettably, too many in our media fail to uphold it. Where do I see evidence of it today?
The Wall Street Journal today runs a book review of Harry Markopolos’ recently released No One Would Listen. The reviewer is Richard J. Tofel of ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative-journalism newsroom. Tofel does not denigrate Harry’s work, but he emasculates Harry from a personal standpoint. (more…)
