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HomeThe Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Should Investigate…
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 11th, 2010 9:28 AM |
Will America ever truly learn what happened on Wall Street that brought our markets, our economy, and our country to its knees?
We should not expect the incestuous Wall Street-Washington partners to implicate themselves and thoroughly expose their shortcomings. A full 16 months since the failure of Lehman Bros. and how much have we truly learned? What change has really occurred? Who has been fired in Washington? Who has been indicted on Wall Street? Will the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, charged with investigating the factors which facilitated our economic disaster, truly be effective?
The truth may hurt but if the hard questions are not asked, the failings are not exposed, and those responsible are not held to account, then the lessons will not be learned, and the experience will likely repeat itself.
Will the commission pretend to investigate, but ultimately wilt under the pressure of the incestuous pillars of power? Will the commission rise above the fray, hold people and institutions to account, and make our country proud? Will the commission use its power to subpoena, if need be?
Whom should the commission pursue? What agencies and institutions should the commission target? If I were on the commission, I would recommend pursuing the following targets: (more…)
Mary Schapiro Owes America Some Answers
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 21st, 2009 8:47 AM |
Who is willing to ask the hard questions? Who is willing to call people out? Who is willing to fly in the face of the Wall Street-Washington incest? Regrettably, very few journalists and media outlets have the character and courage to truly serve the American public interest. Who is not lacking in the courage and character department? Bloomberg’s Susan Antilla.
Time and again, Antilla takes on Wall Street and the financial regulators. In my opinion, her finest piece of work comes out this morning. Susan Antilla writes, Hot Seat for SEC Chief Schapiro Won’t Cool Off:
The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission has a past that is fast coming back to haunt her.
Mary Schapiro’s story has none of the lurid details of philandering celebrity golfers or hedge fund titans who get sued by ex-wives for concealing marital money.
Her history and two pending lawsuits, though, raise an important question for investors: Is the woman who oversees the U.S. financial markets someone willing to fudge the facts to get things done?
If what I heard in federal Judge Jed Rakoff’s New York courtroom last week is even close to accurate, I’d say that it’s time for some serious conversations as to whether Schapiro is the person we should entrust to the top SEC job.
I totally concur. Mary Schapiro, the current SEC Chair and formerly the head of FINRA, possesses a wealth of information on a number of topics for which America would like greater detail. What are some of these topics? (more…)
Will Ignorance Defense Continue to Screw Auction-Rate Securities Investors?
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 18th, 2009 8:03 AM |
Auction-rate securities investors remain at a decided disadvantage when it comes to pursuing legal claims. Misrepresentation by those distributing the auction-rate securities does not seem sufficient to warrant a claim, let alone retribution. The fact that investors are having difficulties bringing suit against Wall Street firms which distributed auction-rate securities should be further reason for investors to be cautious in engaging brokers and financial planners. Why? The fact that selected cases of auction-rate securities distribution have been designated as having occurred in a fraudulent fashion would seem to have established a significant precedent. The fact that the precedent has not been established is mind boggling.
$149 BILLION in auction-rate securities held by thousands of investors remain frozen. Where’s the justice?
Bloomberg provides a recent review of these developments in writing, Auction-Rate Investors Get Redo After Loss of First Fraud Suits:
Auction-rate securities investors who sued banks including Citigroup Inc. and UBS AG to recoup billions of dollars in losses went 0 for 5 as their first cases were thrown out. Now some are gearing up for a rematch over part of the $149 billion in securities that remain outstanding. (more…)
How Big Was Mary Schapiro’s Lie?
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 17th, 2009 2:55 PM |
Will our chief financial regulators be allowed to operate above the law?
That plea of immunity is the foundation of the FINRA defense in the complaint filed against it by Standard Investment Chartered. Recall that the very core of the Standard Investment Chartered vs. FINRA lawsuit is the premise that current SEC Chair Mary Schapiro and her then FINRA colleagues lied verbally and in a proxy statement about the details of a payment to FINRA member firms. FINRA paid 35k per firm and indicated that figure was the maximum allowed by the IRS.
I provided extensive details on this case in writing on October 22nd, NASDAQ Sale: Why Would Mary Schapiro and FINRA Execs Lie?
High five to Bloomberg’s Susan Antilla for doggedly pursuing this case. Susan reports on the hearing held yesterday on this case in United States Court in New York. Susan writes, Broker’s Lawyer Says FINRA Understated Offer to Firms,
A lawyer for securities firms suing the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said sealed documents show its executives understated how much they could pay brokers in the 2007 merger that created the oversight body.
NASD, which became Finra after merging with the New York Stock Exchange’s oversight unit, could pay “something” from $70,000 to $111,000, Jonathan Cuneo, the lawyer for Benchmark Financial Services Inc. and Standard Investment Chartered Inc., said yesterday at a hearing, citing confidential Internal Revenue Service documents. NASD told brokerages in 2006 that IRS policy limited the payments to $35,000. (more…)
Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune and Hartford Courant Also Questioning Mary Schapiro’s Leadership and Integrity
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 14th, 2009 1:06 PM |
Add the Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune and Hartford Courant to the growing list of periodicals in our country questioning the leadership and integrity of current SEC chief and former FINRA head, Mary Schapiro.
Recall that Barrons, The New York Times, and Sense on Cents have called for the public release of unredacted documents which directly address the veracity and integrity of Ms. Schapiro and her then FINRA colleagues in the merger of the NASD with NYSE Regulation to form FINRA.
Bloomberg got on board in early November, and subsequently the Washington Examiner picked up on the importance of this story in late November and published an article by Marta Mossburg, A Failure of Leadership at the SEC.
Washington Examiner: “A Fox Is Guarding the Henhouse at the SEC”
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 24th, 2009 9:26 AM |
Add the Washington Examiner to the increasing number of media outlets picking up on the stench emanating from the incestuous Wall Street-Washington relationship encompassing our nation’s financial regulatory oversight. How so? The Examiner‘s Marta Mossburg writes today, A Fox Is Guarding the Henhouse at the SEC. Who is this fox? None other than Mary Schapiro, current head of the SEC and former head of the Wall Street self-regulatory organization FINRA. Mossburg highlights:
Not everyone opposes giving government sweeping new powers like those being considered over health care and the finance industry. But everyone should care that those in power are competent, apply the law fairly and hold themselves to the highest ethical standards.
As regular readers of Sense on Cents are aware, I picked up the scent on this trail last January and have doggedly tracked it for the last ten months. I am heartened that other interested ‘hunters’ are also now putting out their ‘dogs’ in pursuit of exposing truth within our financial regulatory system so that our nation can embrace the badly needed virtues of transparency and integrity in the process.
Aside from Sense on Cents and now the Washington Examiner, who else is on this trail and tracking the scent? Barrons, Bloomberg, and The New York Times. (more…)
‘There’s Something About Mary’ as Madoff Calls Schapiro “a Dear Friend”
Posted by Larry Doyle on October 30th, 2009 7:57 PM |
Did FINRA invest its own funds from its internal investment portfolio with Bernie Madoff? Would FINRA’s head Mary Schapiro invest with her “dear friend” Bernie? Stick with me on this and let’s navigate the newest development in this ongoing scam. My concluding remarks provide insights you won’t find in many mainstream media outlets.
High five to JD for tipping me off to a segment about Bernie Madoff that just aired on CNBC. While little is truly new in this segment, Bernie’s assessment of his relationship with former FINRA head and current SEC chief Mary Schapiro is startling. While Ms. Schapiro and her colleagues at FINRA have downplayed any sort of relationship with Madoff, Bernie has a different take.
There’s something about Mary as Bernie calls her “a dear friend.”
Will the government powers have the cojones to more fully explore this relationship? Or, are they already aware of it? As I wrote in my commentary of October 22nd, “Nasdaq Sale: Why Would Schapiro and FINRA Execs Lie?”:
Did Ms. Schapiro receive the “E-Z Pass” to the SEC from FINRA with the support of the powers that be on Wall Street? Was the chair of the SEC the ultimate payoff to Ms. Schapiro for the successful completion of the merger between NASD and NYSE Regulation to form FINRA?
What does Bernie have to say? Let’s review the CNBC segment, Madoff: It’s ‘Amazing’ I Didn’t Get Caught Sooner. . .
Jailed swindler Bernie Madoff said it was “amazing” that he didn’t get caught sooner in his multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, and that everything the SEC did to investigate him prior to 2006 was a waste of time, according to a jailhouse interview he gave to SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz.
Madoff also told Kotz that SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro was a “dear friend,” although she “probably thinks, ‘I wish I never knew this guy.'” (more…)
