No Quarter Radio’s Sense on Cents with Larry Doyle Welcomes Helen Davis Chaitman, Sunday Evening at 8pm EST
Posted by Larry Doyle on October 31st, 2009 3:49 PM |
UPDATE: This episode of NQR’s Sense on Cents with Larry Doyle has concluded. You can listen to a recording of the episode in its entirety by clicking the play button on the audio player provided below. Once the audio begins, you can advance or rewind to any portion of the episode by clicking at any point along the play bar. We did have some technical difficulties connecting with our guest at around the 12 minute mark of the show. You can listen up to that point, and then advance it to the 24 minute mark when Helen Davis Chaitman joins the program.
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Who truly protects the average American investor? Our financial regulators are licking their wounds and playing catch up from seemingly 20-plus years of being asleep at the wheel. Banks and brokers are fighting tooth and nail against instituting a fiduciary code of conduct. Why do more and more investors not trust Wall Street? Where should one turn to navigate this corner of our economic landscape?
Welcome to No Quarter Radio’s Sense on Cents with Larry Doyle as I welcome Helen Davis Chaitman this Sunday evening at 8pm EST. Helen Davis Chaitman is a prominent attorney and partner in the New York based law firm Phillips Nizer LLP. Her career spans a vast part of our economic landscape.
Helen Davis Chaitman is a nationally recognized litigator with a diverse trial practice in the areas of lender liability, bankruptcy, bank fraud, RICO, professional malpractice, trusts and estates, and white collar defense. In 1995, Ms. Chaitman was named one of the nation’s top ten litigators by the National Law Journal for a jury verdict she obtained in an accountants’ malpractice case. Ms. Chaitman is the author of The Law of Lender Liability (Warren, Gorham & Lamont 1990) which is periodically updated and, since 1987, has authored the monthly newsletter, The Lender Liability Law Report. In early 2009, Ms. Chaitman spearheaded the firm’s pro bono representation of investors in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. She has been an outspoken advocate for the victims of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and for the government failures which caused massive losses to innocent investors. (more…)
Is the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) a Mere Facade?
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 11th, 2009 4:55 PM |
What good is insurance if after the storm you do not get paid? What good is insurance if the premiums charged are so badly mispriced that they misrepresent and do not cover the embedded risks? Welcome to the world of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.
Is SIPC a mere facade presented by the Wall Street titans?
Let’s get the take of those who recently relied upon SIPC to fulfill its obligations. To whom do I refer? The victims of the Madoff scam.
If these investors were not protected, then how are we to believe that other investors will be protected on a going forward basis?
Why do I make that statement? None other than current head of the SEC Mary Schapiro addressed this topic in recent Congressional testimony. In a press release put out by Madoff victims, Schapiro admitted that SIPC did not have sufficient funds to pay all of the Madoff claims.
Who funds SIPC? The Wall Street banks. Yes, those banks that have been printing massive revenues and believe that they are back to ‘business as usual.’ Why aren’t the premiums immediately increased on these institutions to properly compensate Madoff victims?
To the extent that certain Madoff investors were aware of the Ponzi scam, obviously they should not receive restitution. I have to believe that number is in the distinct minority.
Given the general lack of confidence in our financial regulators,(the SEC and FINRA) would Congress have the heart and courage to take on the financial behemoths on Wall Street in an attempt to protect the investing public?
These questions and issues lie at the core of badly needed financial regulatory reform. Yes, that reform which seems to be on the back burner now that the markets have rebounded and Wall Street is printing money once again.
Make no mistake, though, that pot is still boiling and these questions need to be fully addressed and answered to the public’s satisfaction.
For a deeper understanding of these questions from the perspectives of the victims of the Madoff scam, please read this recent press release from the Bernard Madoff Victims Coalition. Click on the image below to access a PDF of the full 2-page press release. Let me know what you think.
LD