Feds drop the ball — again
More documents involved in the investigation of Wall Street con artist Bernard Madoff were released last week - and they confirm suspicions that federal regulators were asleep at the switch while Madoff was bilking investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence. He has been interviewed by investigators trying to find out whether the Securities and Exchange Commission was guilty of negligence in failing to stop him.
There is ample evidence that SEC regulators gave Madoff free passes. A report released last week, involving a prison interview with Madoff, makes that clear. He told an investigator that he had "too much credibility" with regulators, who "dismissed" the possibility that he was engaged in fraud.
For months, federal agencies have been demanding more power - and more taxpayers' money - to regulate the financial industry. None of that should be granted until agencies such as the SEC provide satisfactory explanations - if that is possible -of why they failed to use their existing power to stop Madoff.
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Anderson
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11-11-09 5:21 PM
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Because foreign banks were not limited by a Glass-Stegel Act, US banks claimed they could not compete in international markets. Along with our "rolling the dice" as Barney Frank demanded and thus loading the financial markets with supposedly AAA Mortgage - mostly subprime - Backed Securities funneled through Government Sanctioned Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, these government actions brought about the housing bubble and financial collapse that put us in our current economic straits. Obviously, what we need is MORE govt action of that sort, and Fannie and Freddie are working overtime to ensure a reprise.
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FDTROOPER
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11-09-09 8:46 AM
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The SEC does not have the powers of the FBI to investigate these Wall Street Thugs. A NEW Glass-Stegel Act needs more POLICE powers to protect the investor.
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jaybares
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11-09-09 7:21 AM
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The lobbyists that convinced Clinton and "W" to strip Glass-Stegel Act because govt was choking the "Free Enterprise" financial system were duped. Did they unleash a bunch of thieves or what? Madoff is the poster child, but there are thousands who proved this bunch do not have any disipline and need to have their conscious defined with rules and laws. The commercial banking system stumbled as did the Wall Street crowd.
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