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HomeInternational Whistleblowers
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 19th, 2013 11:02 AM |
I love when my blog attracts comments from people who share riveting insights and perspectives of real world experiences that can help others who might navigate to these parts.
Not that all — or at least most — of the comments left here are not valuable but some truly stand out.
One left here just yesterday in reaction to my recent commentary, Wall Street: Culture of Silence, confirmed much of what I believe and also highlighted an organization that might be of very real service to those who have information of improprieties but do not know where to turn or what to do. (more…)
Preet Bharara: Big Bark, But Where’s The Bite?
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 19th, 2013 9:19 AM |
The US Attorney for the southern district of New York, Preet Bharara, certainly occupies one of the most powerful positions within law enforcement in the nation.
Yet here we sit 5 full years from the outset of what any reasonably intelligent individual knows is a fraud-induced and executed crisis, and what do we have to show for meaningful justice?
Aside from the prosecution of a handful of ne’er-do-well hedge fund nitwits and an array of shareholder paid fines, the record books to date have very little to show for justice.
I found myself thinking of this track record as I listened to Bharara inform CNBC’s Jim Cramer that nobody and no institution is or should be too big to jail. I am not saying Bharara’s job is an easy one but there comes a point in time when it is put up or shut up. I think most in America would say we have passed that point. (more…)
Bernanke Walks It Back
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 18th, 2013 8:53 AM |
It took a few weeks, but the relatively recent smokescreen of a strengthening economy put forth by Ben Bernanke began to lift yesterday.
I find it especially interesting that it was not some new string of weak economic data that prompted the Fed chair to express increased caution about what is truly going on in the real world economy.
In fact, for what I believe might be the first time, Bernanke cautiously addressed the fact that the structural changes in our economy reflected in a significant decline in the labor force participation rate might be more indicative of our economic health than the actual unemployment rate.
A whiff of the truth amidst the daily diet of verbal diarrhea emanating from D.C? What a novel concept. (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…)
Fabulous Fab The Fall Guy
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 16th, 2013 8:46 AM |
America has certainly been fed a healthy diet of bluster by a wide array of regulators and government officials about cleaning up Wall Street over the last few years.
Those watching closely are well aware, though, that justice on Wall Street typically comes in small packages, token fines, and a whole lot of statements that include “neither admit nor deny.”
Let’s pause and think of all the criminal activity and otherwise unsavory behaviors that have transpired within the industry over the last handful of years: (more…)
Only If The Price is Right
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 15th, 2013 11:16 AM |
Regulators and the general media have a way of vilifying people and products in a manner that strikes me as overly simplistic.
All too often, I see situations in which those charged with protecting the public interest take a belated “ready, shoot, aim” approach and promote that as upholding their mandate.
Well, years after the crisis that took down our global economy, we remain mired in a sea of captured regulators and compliant media.
I maintain that to a large extent, investors — and consumers as well — remain largely on their own in terms of meaningful investor education and protection. (more…)
Breaking News: DOJ Whistleblowers Charge Assistant AG Thomas Perez with Discrimination, Retaliation
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 12th, 2013 9:16 PM |
All too often, whistleblowers in our nation have found themselves ignored, intimidated, or fired.
I have welcomed highlighting the stories of many heroic whistleblowers (Peter Sivere, Mark Mensack, Gary Aguirre, Joe Sciddurlo, David Weber) who have been subjected to just such heinous treatment by the powerful and privileged.
I welcome doing so again. In a breaking press release, we learn that a number of whistleblowers from inside the Department of Justice are sounding the siren on Assistant Attorney General (and the prospective Secretary of Labor) Tom Perez.
What do the whistleblowers allege? (more…)
Wall Street’s Kangaroo Court Receiving Increased Focus
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 12th, 2013 7:29 AM |
When disputes on Wall Street are adjudicated through a system of arbitration, the stacked deck against which investors — and Wall Street employees as well — are forced to contest can only be properly compared to a kangaroo court.
I am very pleased to see that the kangaroos are receiving a lot more attention lately. Recall that the SEC’s own commissioner Luis Aguilar recently called for an end to mandatory arbitration. In the following 8 minute clip presented by Investment News, we witness a few industry lap dogs repeating the party line as to why arbitration should be maintained. Heath Abshure, the Arkansas securities commissioner and current President of the North American Securities Administrators Association, presents a strong counter argument. (more…)
Newedge Market Manipulation: Joe Saluzzi Exposed This Years Ago
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 11th, 2013 7:51 AM |
I awake this morning and see a headline of a lead story on The Wall Street Journal jump out at me.
Brokerage Faces Record Fine
My interest is piqued. What might it be? I quickly peruse the commentary and see words and phrases used that should concern any investor and/or trader including: manipulate U.S. markets . . . risks to the financial system . . . damage investor confidence . . . considerable systemic risk to the marketplace.
I then read of a new word for front-running, that is, “spoofing” and how traders utilized wash trades,”in which a firm acts as buyer and seller in the same trade to distort market activity. The practice can create the illusion of heavy trading volume that lures firms that are tracking for such activity.” (more…)
GS, JPM, MS et al: No Longer Just Banks
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 10th, 2013 7:49 AM |
But how have the banks gotten bigger? It is not merely via the issuance of home mortgages, credit cards, corporate loans, and some derivatives transactions.
The new rent-seeking, market manipulating economy that is coming to define the American landscape is reflected in a host of other ways. Should we even call these institutions banks anymore? (more…)
