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HomeSense on Cents Endorses H.R. 3482: Restoring Main Street Investor Protection and Confidence Act
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 16th, 2013 10:10 AM |
A year ago, I strongly endorsed H.R. 757 to restore credibility to the Securities Investor Protection Act that had been decimated by the manner in which the Madoff trustee went about its business.
That act went into committee at year-end 2012 and died there, strangled by those legislators feeding at the financial industry’s trough. Fortunately, the forces behind 757 are not easily swayed and they are back with H.R. 3482, legislation entitled as “Restoring Main Street Investor Protection and Confidence Act.”
I welcome endorsing it. Why? (more…)
HR 757: “We the People” for Real Investor Protection
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 31st, 2012 10:06 AM |
In the same spirit as that which inspired those who signed our Declaration of Independence, I welcome attaching my name to the following proclamation in support of HR 757 for real investor protection. What makes the proclamation highlighted below so special? It is truly a grass roots effort. As noted attorney Helen Davis Chaitmain asserted:
People are contributing money for these ads in order to educate the electorate that our representatives (and the SEC) have forgotten that they represent the people. They have allowed Wall Street (“SIPC”) to renege on its statutory obligation to insure each brokerage account up to $500,000. Why would any honest hard-working American vote for someone who doesn’t support this bill?”
Sense on Cents Supports HR 757
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 31st, 2012 6:05 AM |
Earlier this year I came out in support of HR 757, legislation drafted and proposed by Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), to address the sham perpetrated by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) upon innocent investors. As I wrote in support of HR 757 then,
Why are we discussing SIPC today? Recall that post Bernie Madoff, the SIPC fund was depleted. Recall also that for approximately 13 years those paying into SIPC were charged an annual premium of $150 in order to put the SIPC stamp of protection on their brokerage statements.
Did you just spill your coffee and think I must have mistyped that figure. I didn’t. I highlighted that ridiculous figure in November 2009.
$150 annual premium paid by each and every Wall Street brokerage house to put a stamp of investor protection on their statements. What type of insurance do you purchase for a $150 annual premium? Seriously. (more…)
Support H.R. 757 for Real Investor Protection
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 5th, 2012 8:47 AM |
All too often I have heard over the last few years from investors violated by the Wall Street-Washington incestuous process and feeling totally disenfranchised as a result. Why have investors gotten trampled?
Great question and worthy of widespread debate and discussion. In an attempt to narrow our focus today, let’s zero in on the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, the organization designed to:
restoring funds to investors with assets in the hands of bankrupt and otherwise financially troubled brokerage firms. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation was not chartered by Congress to combat fraud.
From where does SIPC raise its funds in order to offer this protection to investors? (more…)
CAUTION: SIPC Impostor Luring Madoff Investors
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 9th, 2010 2:22 PM |
There is never a lack of scumbags in the world who prey upon those in distress.
As if those crippled by the Madoff scam have not already gone through hell and back, today we learn that an impostor to the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) has sprouted up targeting the investors victimized by the Madoff scam. The Wall Street Journal exposes this scum in writing, Copy-Cat Web Site Targeting Madoff Victims:
The Securities Investor Protection Corp., a securities industry group formed by Congress to help customers of failed brokerages, warned of an imposter Web site mimicking its own page to target victims of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff. (more…)
Madoff Investors Sue SIPC = Main St. Sues Wall St.
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 25th, 2010 11:35 AM |
I highlighted yesterday the fact that Madoff investors planned to sue SIPC. Further details on this suit are in a press release today. I view this lawsuit as nothing short of Main Street suing Wall Street.
Game on!!
MADOFF VICTIMS SUE SIPC DIRECTORS FOR PERPETRATING MASSIVE INVESTMENT INSURANCE FRAUD AGAINST AMERICAN INVESTORS
Suit charges SIPC fraudulently induced Madoff investors to believe they had up to $500,000 insurance coverage on securities and seeks compensatory and punitive damages
New York, NY – Three New Jersey Madoff investors have sued the directors and key officers of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) for what they allege is a massive investment insurance scam. (more…)
Madoff Investors Suing SIPC
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 24th, 2010 2:39 PM |
You can rest assured that the powers that be on Wall Street would just as soon have the Madoff saga over. The Madoff scam perpetrated on investors is an ugly reminder of the non-existent financial regulatory system during the better part of the last twenty years.
I also believe many in Washington also might like to see the Madoff saga quietly pass by. The failures of the SEC, FINRA, and SIPC in this greatest of scams are an ugly reminder of the Wall Street-Washington incest.
Well, while many of the incestuous partners would like to turn the page, there remains a lot of filth that still needs to be cleaned up and a lot of individuals and institutions that need to be held to account. (more…)
Kanjorski and Ackerman Undress the SEC and SIPC
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 15th, 2009 2:47 PM |
Having written about the massive regulatory failures on Wall Street for the better part of 2009, I am heartened by the House Finance Sub-Committee on Capital Markets hearing last week. The bell that tolled in this hearing deserves to ring loud, long, and clear across our great land. The regulatory and insurance failures on Wall Street deserve to be exposed far beyond Sense on Cents.
Rackets operate best in the dark. Well, let’s get that flashlight out again!
For those unaware, SIPC (the Securities Investor Protection Corporation) is an insurance fund in which member firms pay premiums to cover losses. From SIPC’s own website, we learn:
What SIPC Covers . . . What it Does Not
The cash and securities – such as stocks and bonds – held by a customer at a financially troubled brokerage firm are protected by SIPC.
Among the investments that are ineligible for SIPC protection are commodity futures contracts and currency, as well as investment contracts (such as limited partnerships) and fixed annuity contracts that are not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933.
It is important to recognize that SIPC does not work the same way as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in terms of blanket protection of losses.
For this insurance coverage, SIPC charged its member firms an annual premium of $150 from 1996 until April 2009. That is no joke. Wall Street firms paid a token $150 a year to promote the idea that your investments were protected. While SIPC did have a $1 billion reserve fund, that was woefully insufficient to cover the losses incurred in the Madoff scam. Make no mistake, though, the SIPC annual premium of $150 should also be looked upon as a scam.
Think of it. Individuals pay far more for auto insurance than Goldman Sachs paid for investor insurance for over 12 years.
Are you getting increasingly pissed off? America should be extremely pissed off. The SIPC coverage has been a critical part of the Wall Street racket. (more…)
Press Release: Madoff Investors Accuse SIPC of Forcing Investors to Bail Out Wall Street
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 14th, 2009 2:07 PM |
Having interviewed noted attorney Helen Davis Chaitman on No Quarter Radio’s Sense on Cents with Larry Doyle on November 1st (a recording of that show can be heard here), I am compelled to share this press release. Investors need to fully understand and appreciate the critically important role that SIPC is supposed to fulfill and the fact that it has largely served at the behest of the industry much like its regulatory brethren at FINRA.
LD
MADOFF VICTIMS ACCUSE SIPC OF FORCING INVESTORS TO BAIL OUT WALL STREET
Group of Madoff victims files brief saying Securities Investment Protection Corp. was grossly under funded and is defaulting on its obligations to investors
New York, NY – Lawyers representing victims of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme filed papers in federal bankruptcy court Friday charging the Securities Investment Protection Commission (SIPC) with attempting to enrich Wall Street at the expense of customers of SEC-regulated broker/dealers. The brief argues that SIPC has withheld insurance money rightfully owed to Madoff investors by using an illegal definition of “net equity,” thereby depriving investors of the $500,000 in SIPC insurance which Wall Street is obligated to pay them.
“Just as American taxpayers were required to bail out Wall Street to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars after Wall Street recklessly brought the global economy to its knees, so to, Madoff’s destitute customers are being forced to bail out SIPC,” the brief reads. (more…)
Wall Street Scams Main Street: SIPC Investor Insurance for $150 Premium
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 2nd, 2009 12:25 PM |
Of all the insults, and all the fraud, and all the arrogance that has emanated from Wall Street over the last few years, there is no doubt that one of the greatest unknown travesties perpetrated on the American public is the insurance purchased by Wall Street firms to protect investor interests. How so?
For those listening to my interview with noted attorney Helen Davis Chaitman of Phillips Nizer last evening, you would have heard how the Securities Investor Protection Corporation funds itself. Who exactly is SIPC? From SIPC’s website we learn:
When a brokerage firm is closed due to bankruptcy or other financial difficulties and customer assets are missing, SIPC steps in as quickly as possible and, within certain limits, works to return customers’ cash, stock and other securities. Without SIPC, investors at financially troubled brokerage firms might lose their securities or money forever or wait for years while their assets are tied up in court.
Although not every investor is protected by SIPC, no fewer than 99 percent of persons who are eligible get their investments back from SIPC. From its creation by Congress in 1970 through December 2008, SIPC advanced $520 million in order to make possible the recovery of $160 billion in assets for an estimated 761,000 investors.
Thus we learn SIPC is an insurance fund launched in 1970 to protect investor interests. Sounds like a good idea.
Ms. Chaitman informed us that SIPC has reserves of $1.7 billion dollars. Is that good, bad, or indifferent? Well, for an industry with trillions in exposure, reserves of $1.7 billion seem rather light. (more…)
