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HomeSEC Whistleblower Program: Risks vs Rewards
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 22nd, 2014 7:50 AM |
If you became aware of unethical and likely illegal practices at your company, would you consider ‘blowing the whistle?’ This question is a daunting proposition filled with very real risks that should be measured against potential rewards.
Given the risks and unpleasant real life experiences of many whistleblowers on Wall Street, I firmly believe and recommended in my book that Congress should establish a privately staffed Office of Whistleblower Protection. Some may think that is overreach. I don’t. Others in much greater proximity to the ‘whistles’ would seem to share my view that blowing the whistle is a high risk proposition deserving of increased protection.
Let’s navigate. (more…)
$14 Million Whistleblower Award w/o Details
Posted by Larry Doyle on October 2nd, 2013 7:23 AM |
What state mottoes do you like most?
I am personally partial to New Hampshire’s “Live Free or Die” but in light of the opacity displayed across Wall Street and Washington over the last 4 to 5 years, I have a growing appreciation for Missouri as the “Show Me” state:
A name attributed to Representative Willard Van Diver. It connotes a certain self-deprecating stubbornness and devotion to simple common sense.
How about that? Common sense? What a novel concept in light of recent events in our nation and certainly applicable for my blog.
But I think about Missouri this morning given breaking news out of the SEC regarding its first meaningful whistleblower award in perhaps the last 25 years and its largest award ever. Isn’t this the type of thing to highlight and promote? (more…)
Wall Street: Culture of Silence
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 17th, 2013 8:02 AM |
Wall Street often gets very quiet during the hot, hazy days of summer.
Yet if we were to take a deeper look into Wall Street, it is eerily quiet in many corners of the industry all too often. How so? Wall Street’s code of silence, in which those with knowledge of wrongdoing or improprieties remain quiet, was supposed to change with the new Dodd-Frank whistleblower program.
How is that program doing? (more…)
Governments Lose Trust as Corruption Soars
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 9th, 2013 9:59 AM |
There is not much that shocks me these days. There is even less that causes me to raise my eyebrows.
Well, this morning I raised my eyebrows in reading a commentary that hits directly upon a theme known all too well by readers of my blog: a lack of transparency in government generating a whole lot of corruption and subsequently a pervasive lack of trust. Let’s navigate as CNNMoney provides “eyebrow rising” info.
Have you recently paid a bribe to a local politician, judge or police officer?
If so, you’re not alone. More than one in four people around the world have paid a bribe in the past year, according to a global survey conducted by Transparency International. (more…)
Sex, Lies, Stupidity, Oh My: SEC Whistleblower David Weber Vindicated, Receives Huge $ettlement
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 10th, 2013 8:21 AM |
“Doing the right thing can be hard” . . .
David Weber, former assistant Inspector General of the SEC, June 10, 2013
——————————
In a world in which it is all too easy to look the other way, to go along to get along, and to sit down when the public needs you to stand up, hope springs eternal.
I am heartened that America still has a chance to eradicate the corrosive and corruptible elements that have thrived within our financial regulatory system when I learn that there are still people who care enough to do the right thing. Who is one of those people?
Former assistant inspector general of the SEC David Weber. Today is his day and America should feel very good about that. (more…)
SEC Exposes Whistleblower: Inadvertent? STOP IT!!
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 25th, 2012 10:24 AM |
News this morning that an SEC attorney, in the midst of an investigation, blew the cover of a whistleblower might have been formerly thought of as inadvertent or unfortunate. America is no longer so naive.
The Wall Street Journal’s lead story today highlights, Source’s Cover Blown by SEC:
Federal securities regulators, in a sensitive breach, inadvertently revealed the identity of a whistleblower during a probe of a firm that ran a stock trading platform. (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…)
Will Whistleblower Protections Suffer at Hands of Rep. Michael Grimm “Reaper” (R-NY)?
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 7th, 2012 11:14 AM |
Representative Michael Grimm (R-NY) was ceremoniously inducted into the Sense on Cents Hall of Shame in May 2011. Not that I ever believed there was reason to doubt his induction, but recently I witnessed further reason to cement his status in the elevated ranks of shame.
As regular readers are fully aware, I write passionately about pursuing the truth while promoting investor education and investor protection. The history of the last few years has shown that the financial services industry has not exactly shared our passion.
Who has shared the passion and took very real professional risk in the process? Numerous and sundry whistleblowers. (more…)
Can Whistleblowers ‘Cross-Examine’ the SEC? Part II
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 10th, 2012 6:37 PM |
My commentary the other day entitled Can Whistleblowers ‘Cross-Examine’ the SEC? received a fair bit of attention and some rather interesting comments. In light of the very fluid developments within the realm of financial regulation, I strongly recommend that post.
The primary concern I raised within that commentary – and hence the title – was that a key panel at the upcoming 39th Annual Securities Regulation Institute consists solely of industry insiders. Why might that be such a concern?
Well, one of the main critiques of our financial regulatory system made by many, including Harry Markopolos, has been the revolving door between our regulators and the industry.
Why is a revolving door such a concern? Stick with me here. (more…)
A Chance to Expose the Wall Street-Washington Incest
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 7th, 2011 6:55 AM |
Truth, transparency, and integrity.
The compromising of these virtues may be the cost of doing business in our nation but make no mistake the price we collectively pay is enormous. Whether in Washington or on Wall Street, the ability to compromise our prized virtues has truly been raised to an art form.
From derivative transactions which disguise unprecedented levels of risk to bond indentures which require advanced legal degrees to interpret, our ‘friends’ on Wall Street with assistance from ‘their’ friends in Washington have displayed little regard for the aforementioned virtues which are the foundation for real ‘sense on cents’.
More often than not,though,the violation of our virtues is viewed in an impersonal light. Wall Street and Washington are behemoths. The American public and investors at large are faceless. In my opinion, our financial services industry and government would just as soon keep it this way.
Let’s challenge them. (more…)
