Archive for the ‘FINRA’ Category
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 16th, 2010 10:14 AM |
A report released yesterday by MarketWatch highlights the fact that the Wall Street self-regulator FINRA is launching a new initiative to target fraud within its purview of the financial industry. This initiative, designated the Office of Fraud Detection and Market Intelligence, will be headed by a longstanding FINRA employee, Cameron Funkhouser. Let’s navigate and offer insightful critique and analysis.
From the MarketWatch report entitled, Wall Street Watchdog Promises to Show More Teeth:
Wall Street’s self-regulatory body that self-admittedly failed to detect 2008’s major financial scandals has a plan to not miss the next one. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is touting its new fraud team as the key to spotting another Bernard Madoff. (more…)
Tags: financial regulatory reform and FINRA, FINRA, FINRA and Mark McGwire, FINRA and POGO, Finra Fraud Team, FINRA liquidation of auction-rate securities, fraud on Wall Street, MarketWatch article on FINRA, office of Fraud Detection and market Intelligence, SEC oversight of FINRA, Wall Street Watchdog Promises to Show More Teeth, who is Cameron Funkhouser
Posted in FINRA, General | 7 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 7th, 2010 9:03 AM |
Shut up!!!
Imagine being in a situation in which you knew you had to be quiet in order to advance your own personal career, rather than speaking up and blowing the whistle on irregularities and improprieties within your firm. This message is consistently relayed by many a whistleblower who has suffered from having tried to do the right thing. What is the result? Firms tout their virtuous values of integrity, respect, and excellence while effectively muzzling those who would blow the whistle on crimes and illegal practices.
I believe this reality is all too present in many, if not most, industries in our society today. There is absolutely no doubt it is present on Wall Street. (more…)
Tags: Barney Frank, code of silence, Darrell Issa, David Kotz, FINRA, paul Kanjorski, POGO, project on Government Oversight, SEC OIG report on whistleblowers, SEC whistleblower, SEC whistleblower program, Wall Street, Wall Street business as usual, Wall Street regulation, Wall Street sro, whistleblowers on wall street, whistles on Wall Street
Posted in FINRA, General, POGO, SEC | 8 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 1st, 2010 9:42 AM |
Ignorance is never an excuse. Whether in regard to law enforcement, financial regulation, or other forms of supervisory oversight, ignorance may be the reality . . . but we can never allow it to be used as an excuse. Regrettably, ignorance (if not worse) was clearly on rampant display as the SEC (and in my opinion, FINRA as well) failed America miserably in its oversight of Lehman Brothers.
One of my favorite financial journalists, Bloomberg’s Jonathan Weil, highlights the pathetic performance of the SEC regulators who were charged with overseeing one of the firms that catapulted our economy off a cliff. Weil writes, Wall Street’s Repo 105 Cops Wake Up From Dead:
The good news this week from the Securities and Exchange Commission is that it’s on the hunt for companies that have used Lehman-style accounting tricks to make themselves look less leveraged than they really are. Now for the downside: The headline-chasing agency is way too late, as usual. (more…)
Tags: Anton Valukas, Barney Frank, Bloomberg, Bloomberg's Jonathan Weil, Darrell Issa, financial accounting, financial leverage on Wall Street, financial regulation, financial regulators failed America, FINRA ignorance, FINRA oversight of Lehman, ignorance is never an excuse, inmates running asylum, Jim Chanos of Kynikos Associates, Lehman Brothers, Lehman Repo 105, Matthew Eichner, Matthew Eichner Federal Reserve Board, paul Kanjorski, Repo 105, SEC ignorance, SEC oversight of Lehman, Securities and Exchange Commission, short sellers, Wall Street, Wall Street accounting tricks, Wall Street inmates running the asylum, Wall Street's Repo 105 Cops Wake Up From Dead, who is Matthew Eichner
Posted in FINRA, General, Lehman, SEC | 5 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 22nd, 2010 4:24 PM |
Why am I so skeptical that Senator Chris Dodd’s proposed Financial Regulatory Reform (for overachievers in the audience, the link connects to the 89-page proposal) will truly change behaviors on Wall Street? For the very simple reason that I have seen no highlighting of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority within the proposed Financial Regulatory Reform. Strike you as a little odd? It strikes me that the Wall Street lobby is hard at work keeping its self-regulator, that being FINRA, right where they want it.
Against this backdrop, I was pleasantly surprised to see highly regarded Barron’s columnist Jim McTague reference that the proposed reform would promote transparency and accountability of FINRA. (more…)
Tags: accountability of financial regulatory reform, Chris Dodd, Davis Pol Summary of Draft of Restoring American Financial Stability Act ing, Dodd Prepares to Whack Wall Street, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, financial regulatory reform, financial self-regulation, FINRA, FINRA SEC TRACE, GAO, Jim McTague, MSRB, POGO, Report on Oversight of National Securities Associations, SEC oversight of FINRA, self-regulation, transparency of financial regulatory reform, Wall Street, Wall Street lobby, Wall Street-Washington incest
Posted in Christopher Dodd, FINRA, General, regulation | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 18th, 2010 10:52 AM |
Will Susan Merrill provide America with a window into the scams perpetrated by Wall Street on the American investing public? Who is Susan Merrill? Let’s navigate.
Those charged with protecting the public interest must be held to an appropriate standard. In order to promote public trust, these organizations and their executives must be held to account. If need be, that accounting should include legal discovery and, if warranted, a subpoena as well.
Susan Merrill, the head of enforcement of Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization, FINRA, is stepping down after having occupied this role for three years. Think she knows some things that the American public would like to know? No doubt.
In fact, in my opinion, Ms. Merrill most likely has a wealth of information that American investors (those she was charged to protect) and the American public at large DESERVE to know. (more…)
Tags: Amerivet Securities v FINRA, auction rate securities cases, Barney Frank, Benchmark Financial vs FINRA, Congressional inquiry into FINRA, Darrell Issa, Davis Polk Wardwell, FINRA, FINRA liquidation of auction-rate securities, FINRA oversight of Lehman Brothers, FINRA should protect investors, FINRA's Susan merrill to Exit as Enforcement Chief, lawsuits against FINRA, Mary Schapiro, merger of NASD and NYSE Regulation, paul Kanjorski, Standard Investment Chartered vs FINRA, Susan Merrill, Susan Merrill quits, Susan Merrill Wall Street Journal March 18 2010, Susan Merrill's career, Thomas Weisel auction rate securities, transparency on Wall Street, Wall Street oversight, WSJ Merrill March 18 2010
Posted in FINRA, General | 9 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 6th, 2010 8:01 PM |
The stench surrounding FINRA is attracting real attention.
The executives of Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization FINRA should not think that the recent dismissal of one legal complaint is reason for celebration. Why? Those who care for transparency measure success not in terms of judicial victories but to a much greater extent by public pressure and awareness. On that note, at long last real progress in creating transparency into FINRA is occurring.
From the highly regarded government watchdog Project on Government Oversight to now the leading weekend business periodical Barron’s, FINRA’s stench is attracting attention from more than the blogosphere and a few selected journalists (Bloomberg’s Susan Antilla, The Washington Examiner’s and Baltimore Sun’s Marta Mossburg, and also Barron’s Jim McTague).
The news in an article this weekend by Barron’s is not news to regular readers of Sense on Cents, but to most of America FINRA remains a foreign entity. Those days are changing. (more…)
Tags: Barron's article on FINRA MArch 2010, Barron's FINRA First Heal Thyself, barron's highlights FINRA's shortcomings, Barron's Jim Mctague writes about FINRA, Barron's March 6 2010 FINRA article, David Tittsworth, David Tittsworth comments on FINRA, FINRA BArron's march 6 2010, Jim McTague writes about FINRA
Posted in Barrons, FINRA, General | 6 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 4th, 2010 7:29 AM |
The auction-rate securities market did not instantaneously freeze in early 2008. The fact is, the ARS market started to fail in mid-2007 on the heels of a variety of market segments repricing given the liquidity issues on Wall Street. Recall that mortgage hedge funds at Bear Stearns cratered in spring 2007. At that point, Wall Street was becoming much more risk averse while shepherding the use of its own capital and balance sheets. During this point in time, the ARS market started to fail and ultimately totally froze in early 2008.
Evidence is rampant that Wall Street worked feverishly from mid-2007 until early 2008 to offload auction-rate securities anywhere and everywhere without informing investors of the failing nature of the market. (more…)
Tags: ARPS fraud, ARS, Auction Rate Securities, Auction Rate Securities scandal, Citigroup auction-rate securities scandal, Citigroup Pete Thompson Scott Kami, Citigroups auction-rate bonds freeze $1 billion in hawaii cash, FINRA, fraud, Hawaii auction rate securities, hawaii cash strapped, hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, Karl Rhoads, Mary Schapiro Rick Ketchum, SEC, Wall Street
Posted in ARPS, ARS, Auction Rate Securities scandal, FINRA, General | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 2nd, 2010 10:40 AM |
Judge Jed Rakoff’s ruling to dismiss the complaint by Standard Investment Chartered v FINRA based on the regulator having absolute immunity generated a consistent response from readers and colleagues. What is the theme of that response?
A comment by Bill, a loyal Sense on Cents reader, seems to sum it up best:
Interesting that FINRA has the benefit of a quasi governmental entity, i. e. immunity, but not the customary burden of a governmental entity–transparency. Otherwise known as a license to steal. (more…)
Tags: absolute immunity without transparency, financial regulation, FINRA books and records, FINRA immunity, FINRA lawsuit, immunity, Mary Schapiro, Rakoff ruling for FINRA, regulation on Wall Street, Standard Investment Chartered v FINRA
Posted in FINRA, General, Jed Rakoff, Mary Schapiro | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 1st, 2010 5:49 PM |
America should be reviled when those charged with upholding the law overseeing our markets are not held to that standard themselves.
Today is a very dark day for those in our country who cherish the virtues of truth, transparency, and integrity.
Why am I despondent? This afternoon, Judge Jed Rakoff issued a ruling dismissing the lawsuit brought on behalf of Standard Investment Chartered against Mary Schapiro and other FINRA executives. What is the basis for Judge Rakoff’s dismissal? He allowed the defense the cover of absolute immunity in the merger of the NASD with NYSE Regulation to form FINRA. (more…)
Tags: absolute immunity for finra, Amerivet Securities vs FINRA, FINRA, Judge Rakoff ruiling onm standard investmetn chartered v finra, Mary Schapiro, rakoff gives finra absolute immunity, Standard Investment Chartered vs FINRA
Posted in FINRA, General, Jed Rakoff | 9 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 1st, 2010 10:38 AM |
Harry Markopolos
In an interview on the Today show this morning (video clip after the fold), Harry Markopolos dropped a few bombshells. Harry’s statement that he had purchased a gun and mentally prepared himself to kill Bernie Madoff in self-defense if need be will likely grab the most attention. It shouldn’t.
Markopolos’ biggest bombshell this morning is his warning to America, “don’t trust your government.” No surprise that Today host Matt Lauer did not probe deeper. I am not confident that other outlets will delve deeper into Harry’s statement, either. I wonder why Harry himself is reticent to specifically point out the individuals and the instances which lead him to make that statement.
Recall that a year ago Harry defined the SEC as merely incompetent while simultaneously defining FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) as ‘in bed with the industry’ that is Wall Street. Well, it does not take an advanced degree to connect Harry’s grenade toss into FINRA’s backyard a year ago with his volley this morning. (more…)
Tags: Amerivet Securities v FINRA, Bernie Madoff, Don't trust your government, FINRA front running the ARS market, Harry Markopolos, harry markopolos comments on SEC March 1 2010, Harry Markopolos don't trust your government, HArry MArkopolos interview on Today, Harry Markopolos Madoff organized crime, Harry Markopolos No One Would Listen, Lauer interview with Markopolos, Madoff, Madoff scam, Markopolos bought a gun, Markopolos interview Today show March 1 2010, Markopolos interview with Matt Lauer, Markopolos Schapiro, Mary Schapiro's relationship with Bernie Madoff, organized crime involved in Madoff scam, Ronnie Sue and Dominic Ambrosino Today show March 1 2010, Today show March 1 2010
Posted in Bernie Madoff, FINRA, General, Harry Markopolos, Madoff, Mary Schapiro, regulation, SEC | 20 Comments »
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Barron’s Highlights FINRA’s Stench
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 6th, 2010 8:01 PM |
The stench surrounding FINRA is attracting real attention.
The executives of Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization FINRA should not think that the recent dismissal of one legal complaint is reason for celebration. Why? Those who care for transparency measure success not in terms of judicial victories but to a much greater extent by public pressure and awareness. On that note, at long last real progress in creating transparency into FINRA is occurring.
From the highly regarded government watchdog Project on Government Oversight to now the leading weekend business periodical Barron’s, FINRA’s stench is attracting attention from more than the blogosphere and a few selected journalists (Bloomberg’s Susan Antilla, The Washington Examiner’s and Baltimore Sun’s Marta Mossburg, and also Barron’s Jim McTague).
The news in an article this weekend by Barron’s is not news to regular readers of Sense on Cents, but to most of America FINRA remains a foreign entity. Those days are changing. (more…)
Tags: Barron's article on FINRA MArch 2010, Barron's FINRA First Heal Thyself, barron's highlights FINRA's shortcomings, Barron's Jim Mctague writes about FINRA, Barron's March 6 2010 FINRA article, David Tittsworth, David Tittsworth comments on FINRA, FINRA BArron's march 6 2010, Jim McTague writes about FINRA
Posted in Barrons, FINRA, General | 6 Comments »