Posts Tagged ‘financial regulation’
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 27th, 2010 4:51 PM |
PLEASE READ and ENDORSE THIS CALL for an INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION. PLEASE SHARE. Thanks!! LD
I have publicly stated time and again that I believe the Wall Street self-regulatory organization, FINRA, did sit and likely still sits at the nexus of the Wall Street-Washington incest that has brought our nation’s economy to its knees.
Regrettably, we have had no Congressional inquiries into the failures at FINRA. Dare I say, we have had no public pressure from the media to drive a Congressional inquiry.
I am tremendously sickened by Congress not working for America’s citizens interests by investigating FINRA. Please recall that FINRA not only failed to protect investors, but there are strong allegations that FINRA itself participated in some of the greatest frauds on Wall Street via its own internal investment portfolio. Which frauds?
We know they dumped $647 million auction-rate securities in mid-2007 and likely front ran the ARS market while doing it. I unearthed the fact that FINRA owned these ARS in January 2009 when reading FINRA’s 2007 Annual Report. Meanwhile, $150 BILLION held by thousands of investors remains in frozen ARS investments.
There is an outstanding allegation that FINRA invested its own funds in Bernie Madoff. We know they failed to properly regulate and monitor Lehman, Bear Stears, and Merrill Lynch. How much more should Congress need to know?
FINRA needs to be introduced to the American public and investigated by Congress. FINRA has not even received direct focus or attention in Senator Dodd’s proposed Financial Regulatory Reform.
We can sit idly by and allow Wall Street and Congress to dictate to us or we can do something. I choose the latter. I want this post and this site to be the lightning rod to bring attention to how Wall Street’s self-regulation, embodied in FINRA, drove our economy into the ditch.
Please add your support by leaving a comment endorsing this investigation. I intend to keep a focus on this topic until FINRA’s failures are fully exposed and people are held to account. Get your friends and colleagues to do the same. If we can create a groundswell of support, I feel confident I can get some selected media friends to pick this up. From there, I welcome leading this march to Washington.
The American public and American investors deserve nothing else.
Any questions. Please do not hesitate to ask here or write me at senseoncents@aol.com.
Who’s with me?
FINRA must be independently investigated. America needs to learn how the Wall Street cop was not only asleep, but also in bed with the financial industry as Wall Street brought America to the brink of disaster.
LD
Tags: ARPS, ARS, Bear Stearns, Bernie Madoff, BMIS, Bob Errico, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, financial regulation, Financial Regulatory Reform proposal, FINRA, fraud on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, Madoff, Mary Schapiro, Merrill LYnch, Rick Ketchum, self-regulation, Sense on Cents, Susan Merrill, Wall street fraud, what is Finra
Posted in General | 30 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 9th, 2010 9:16 AM |
Prescription drugs can only be accessed through a physician for a reason. When used appropriately under the guidance of an ethical and informed doctor, the powers of prescription drugs can be life-changing and life-saving. When these prescription drugs are marketed by those more interested in their own bottom line than the health and well-being of their ‘patients’, then use often turns to abuse and the effects are crippling.
A similar dynamic plays out in the high and mighty halls of international finance. (more…)
Tags: abusing financial derivatives, buyer beware, caveat emptor, complex finance risks, Domenico Siniscalco Italian finance minister, ethics in the financial industry, financial derivatives, financial derivatives in Italy, financial regulation, financial regulators, Financial times An Exposed Position, heroin approach on Wall Street, prescription drugs on Wall Street, public sector in Italy, sophisticated clients
Posted in derivatives, General | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 3rd, 2010 9:49 AM |
News that a newly proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency will be housed within the Federal Reserve is another shot across the bow in terms of Wall Street owning Washington and beating Main Street.
Am I surprised by these results? Not at all. The power of the Wall Street lobby is enormous and ultimately the crowd in Washington needs the money from Wall Street in order to pretend they represent the interests of Main Street. All the press conferences and politicking on the topic of consumer financial protection truly amount to nothing more than pure bluster. The bottom line of Wall Street banks feeds the bottom line of many politicians in Washington on both sides of the aisle. (more…)
Tags: campaign contributions, CFPA, Consumer agency Within Fed Seen as Victory for Banking Industry, consumer finance, consumer finance protection agency, Federal Reserve, financial education, financial regulation, Lauren Saunders National Consumer Law Center, Securities Act of 1933, sufficiency of financial regulation, transparency and integrity of financial regulation, Wall Street lobby, Wall street owns Washington, Wall Street Washington Main Street
Posted in General | No 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 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…)
Tags: Bernie Madoff, Bernie Madoff Investor coalition sues SIPC directors, financial regulation, financial regulatory system, fraud, investor protection, Madoff investors suing SIPC, SEC FINRA SIPC, SIPC, Stephen Harbeck of SIPC, Wall Street, Wall Street regulation, Wall Street-Washington incest, Washington
Posted in Bernie Madoff, General, Madoff, SIPC | 7 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 23rd, 2010 2:04 PM |
Are the days of Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization known as FINRA numbered?
In the opinion of the very credible Project on Government Oversight, they should be. Why? Significant failures, massive conflicts of interest, and more. POGO’s comprehensive and scathing letter to four separate House and Senate committees touches upon every failing within FINRA, with the exception of the integrity of the proxy statement used in the formation of the organization itself. Strong allegations in a current lawsuit against FINRA make the case that Mary Schapiro lied verbally during roadshows and in the proxy statement. (For details on this lawsuit read here.)
Despite not addressing the issues embedded in that lawsuit, POGO touches all the other bases and covers all the other issues surrounding this organization. (more…)
Tags: Amerivet Securities vs FINRA, Anna Driver, ARPS, ARS, Bernie Madoff, Bernie Madoff Mark Madoff Peter Madoff, Bernie Madoff's relationship with FINRA, compensation at FINRA, Danielle Brian's letter about FINRA, Darrell Preston FINRA, Davis Polk Wardwell, did FINRA protect investors, financial regulation, financial regulatory reform, FINRA, FINRA and NASD Annual reports, FINRA conflicts of interest, FINRA failings, FINRA oversight of Stanford, FINRA's board, FINRA's failure in auction rate securities, FINRA's formation, FINRA's future, FINRA's oversight of Madoff, FINRA's oversight of Wall Street, FINRA's track record, Frederick Fram, incest on Wall Street, John Coffee, Lena Stinson, Madoff relationship with FINRA and NASD, Mary Schapiro, Mary Schapiro compensation and severance, merger creating FINRA, Michael Smallberg's letter to Congress and Senate on FINRA, NASD, NASDAQ, National Adjudicatory Council, POGO, POGO FINRA, POGO investigates FINRA, POGO letter on FINRA, POGO letter to House and Senate committees, POGO letter to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, POGO letter to House Financial Services Committee, POGO letter to Senate Banking, POGO letter to Senate Finance, project on Government Oversight, Richard Ketchum, Robert Errico, self-regulation on Wall Street, Shana Madoff, Susan Merrill, Tom McGinty kara Scannell Randall Smith FINRA, Wall Street employees working at FINRA, Wall Street's SRO, Wall Street-Washington incest, watchdog group investigates Wall Street regulator, what does Finra do?
Posted in FINRA, General, POGO | 11 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 12th, 2010 10:35 AM |
When regulators are in bed with industry, bad things happen. When regulators actually go to work for the industry, then really bad things happen.
Evidence of this dynamic on Wall Street is overwhelming. Yet, don’t think that Wall Street has a monopoly on this incest. Bloomberg highlights that incestuous activity has also played out in the disaster encompassing Toyota. Bloomberg reports, Regulators Hired by Toyota Helped Halt Investigations:
Former regulators hired by Toyota Motor Corp. helped end at least four U.S. investigations of unintended acceleration by company vehicles in the last decade, warding off possible recalls, court and government records show. (more…)
Tags: automotive regulation, blood money, Christopher Santucci, Christopher Tinto, financial regulation, FINRA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, Regulators Hired by Toyota Helped Halt Investigations, SEC, Toyota, Toyota Camry and Solara, Wall Street
Posted in Auto Industry, General | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 29th, 2010 8:31 AM |
Time.
The policies implemented in Washington are trying to buy time in hopes that our economy recovers. Japan took the ‘buying time’ approach and twenty years later they are still waiting for real recovery.
Moving forward.
The approach being taken by those within our financial regulatory structure (SEC and FINRA) is to ‘move forward.’ Well, unless the critically unanswered questions and issues embedded within these organizations are fully exposed and addressed, America can never truly move forward with confidence in the markets and those overseeing them.
President Obama wants real financial regulatory reform. Then Mister President, compel your chair of the SEC, Mary Schapiro, to open the books and records of FINRA. Mr. President, compel Ms. Schapiro to unseal documents regarding the very formation of FINRA itself.
America knows something still smells on Wall Street. What is it? (more…)
Tags: Bill Anderson of Cuneo Gilbert LaDuca, books and records at FINRA, Cuneo Gilbert Laduca, Cuneo Gilbert Laduca suits vs FINRA, David Asman America's Nightly Scoreboard l, details of FINRA foundation, did FINRA invest in Madoff, economic recovery will take time, F. Joseph Warin of Gibson Dunn and Crutcher, financial regulation, financial regulation on Wall Street, financial regulatory reform, FINRA and NASD did oversee Madoff, FINRA books and records, FINRA failed to protect investors, Finra investment portfolio, finra lawyers gibson dunn judge jed rakoff, FINRA merger, Finra's sale of Auction Rate Securities, HArvey Pitt on America's Nightly Scoreboard, how was FINRA formed, Jonathan Cuneo, Jonathan Cuneo's lawsuits against FINRA, Madoff Coalition for Investor Protection, Mary Schapiro, merger of NYSE Regulation with NASD to form FINRA, moving forward with financial regulation, need for transparency at FINRA m, President Obama calls for financial regulatory reform, Richard greenfield on America's Nightly Scoreboard, Ronnie Sue Ambrosino on America's Nightly Scoreboard, Ronnie Sue Ambrosino on SEC FINRA SIPC, self-regulation on Wall Street, Standard Investment Chartered vs FINRA, unseal FINRA documents, Wall Street regulation, Wall Street regulatory structure
Posted in FINRA, General, regulation | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 4th, 2010 12:04 PM |
Will the change in the calendar bring about change in the prospects for real financial regulatory reform? Will Wall Street and Washington recycle the streamers and party hats used for New Year’s Eve celebrations and declare that the market is up so all is well? If the general media allows the charlatans in Washington and their consorts on Wall Street to frame the regulatory reform debate, America should expect little to no change on this front. In the process, a tremendous opportunity will have been squandered and real risks for our collective future will remain.
The haggling over regulatory turf continues again with Ben Bernanke’s declaration yesterday that our housing crisis resulted not from excessively easy monetary policy but rather lax regulatory oversight of mortgage lending. Whose domain is that to regulate? Oh right, that is the charge of the Federal Reserve. The joke on the American public continues, given that Bernanke is not called on the carpet for that sort of grandstanding. (more…)
Tags: 2010, Ben Bernanke, Ben Bernanke comments January 3, Bernanke comments january 3 2010, Bernanke on lax oversight, Charlatans in Washington, Eliot Spitzer, Eliot Spitzer in The New Republic, end Finra, financial regulation, financial regulatory reform 2010, regulating financial markets, risks, self-regulation on Wall Street, Wall Street regulation, Walll Street SRO FINRA
Posted in FINRA, General, regulation | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 18th, 2009 12:45 PM |
Should we take heart that the Obama administration is creating a multi-agency Financial Fraud Task Force? While there is no doubt there are massive frauds in the system, the mere creation of a task force does not necessarily mean the frauds will be rooted out. Why? If the agencies involved in the task force are themselves fundamentally and structurally flawed, then frauds will continue. If the agencies merely failed to execute or perform then perhaps this task force will expose those deficiencies and lessen fraudulent activities.
Which agencies will be involved in this task force? The Securities Industry News reports, U.S. Launches Multi-Agency Task Force to Prosecute Financial Fraud:
The task force will be led by the Department of Justice and chaired by Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., but will also include senior officials from the Department of Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Reserve System and other major federal agencies.
Thus, this task force would seem to consist of all government agencies while being led by AG Eric Holder and the Department of Justice. What does Mr. holder have to say? (more…)
Tags: Eric Holder, financial fraud task force, financial regulation, FINRA, genevievette Walker-Lightfoot, government bureaucracy, incest between Wall Street and Washington, Richard Greenfield, SEC, structural flaws at SEC and FINRA, Wall Street regulation
Posted in FINRA, fraud, General | 2 Comments »
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Will 2010 Bring Real Financial Regulatory Reform?
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 4th, 2010 12:04 PM |
Will the change in the calendar bring about change in the prospects for real financial regulatory reform? Will Wall Street and Washington recycle the streamers and party hats used for New Year’s Eve celebrations and declare that the market is up so all is well? If the general media allows the charlatans in Washington and their consorts on Wall Street to frame the regulatory reform debate, America should expect little to no change on this front. In the process, a tremendous opportunity will have been squandered and real risks for our collective future will remain.
The haggling over regulatory turf continues again with Ben Bernanke’s declaration yesterday that our housing crisis resulted not from excessively easy monetary policy but rather lax regulatory oversight of mortgage lending. Whose domain is that to regulate? Oh right, that is the charge of the Federal Reserve. The joke on the American public continues, given that Bernanke is not called on the carpet for that sort of grandstanding. (more…)
Tags: 2010, Ben Bernanke, Ben Bernanke comments January 3, Bernanke comments january 3 2010, Bernanke on lax oversight, Charlatans in Washington, Eliot Spitzer, Eliot Spitzer in The New Republic, end Finra, financial regulation, financial regulatory reform 2010, regulating financial markets, risks, self-regulation on Wall Street, Wall Street regulation, Walll Street SRO FINRA
Posted in FINRA, General, regulation | 1 Comment »