Tag: SEC

Apr 21 2010

…..The Harder They Fall

(Cross-posted from The Free Speech Zone)


Government allegations that financial giant Goldman Sachs defrauded investors are creating a political storm, with some lawmakers hoping that the civil lawsuit filed Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission is just the beginning.

As the heat increases on the investment bank, which has denied all wrongdoing, Politico reports that they have hired Greg Craig for legal help. Craig formerly worked as the top lawyer for President Barack Obama and left the White House earlier this year to join the law firm Skadden, Arps.

The executive order Obama signed the day after he was inaugurated bars high-level executive branch appointees who leave the administration, like Craig, from communicating with their former employers. That executive order also prohibits such officials from lobbying the federal government during the remainder of the Obama administration.

The Politico article notes that since the SEC is an independent government agency, it would not coordinate with the White House on enforcement matters, such as the pending lawsuit targeting Goldman Sachs.

The article goes on to quote a source familiar with Goldman Sachs as saying Craig was hired for his ability to give advice and his “deep understanding of the legal process and the world of Washington.”



The U.S. government is not the only authority interested in further probing Goldman Sachs.

The British and German government have also raised the possibility of investigations. And on Capitol Hill, Democrats in the House and Senate are calling for more answers.

http://www.opensecrets.org/new…

Of all the articles I read on this, this Capital Eye Blog article has to be the best one.

Well, the one that gave me the biggest fucking hard-on in my life that is…..

Apr 17 2010

Gold In Sacks: McClatchy’s Greg Gordon Explains SEC Charges Against Goldman Sachs

McClatchy News’ Greg Gordon talks with Paul Jay of The Real News Network with his analysis of the SEC civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs and Goldman VP Fabrice Tourre:



Real News Network – April 17, 2010

Goldman Sachs charged with fraud

McClatchy’s Greg Gordon explains SEC charges against Goldman Sachs

SEC’s Goldman charges could be just the beginning

Jul 26 2009

60-70% of stock volume is “Ficticious”. One way or the other, we’re screwed

     Crossposted at Daily Kos

hat tip to Inky99 who covered this first in his diary Stock market “Rally” is bogus, volume in market “ficticious”. I thought this subject was so pertinent it need to be expanded on.  

   From Bloomberg News, Joe Saluzzi, on July 6th, 2009


Saluzzi:     ” The volume that you see during the day right now, somedays as high as 12 million across all three exchange, is ficticious. It’s not real, okay. I’m gonna say that 60-70% of this volume that you see coming across, it’s volume, but it’s done by what is called high frequency traders. These are machines. The biggest machine wins the game.”

    More on how we are totally screwed one way or the other below the fold.

Jun 01 2009

It can Pay to be on the Inside

Usually they get away with …

Usually they trade their knowledge, for money or power, and no one notices —

But not always:

Insider-Trading Ring Bust May Fuel Hedge-Fund Concern

By David Scheer – March 2, 2007

March 2, (Bloomberg) — The U.S. government’s accusations that Morgan Stanley, UBS AG and Bear Stearns Cos. employees were central figures in an insider-trading ring illustrate why regulators and lawmakers are suspicious of Wall Street’s relationship with hedge funds.

Prosecutors in New York and Washington yesterday brought criminal charges against 13 people, claiming that an executive at UBS and a former compliance lawyer at Morgan Stanley tipped off hedge-fund traders and brokers to new analyst ratings and secret takeover talks. Bear Stearns was home to at least four professionals who traded on information leaked from inside the two firms, according to a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

(emphasis added)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…

White Collar Crime, is not any less heinous, because they commit it with a Keyboard, instead of a Handgun.  Yet more often than not, in the Wild West of electronic casinos, these criminals can make “a killing”, without having to pull that trigger themselves … without ever having to worry about ever facing their “day in court” …

Mar 15 2009

Corporate Media, Intellectual Property Law, and the Suppression of Public Discourse

I just finished answering someone on YouTube (in a private exchange, not a comment section free-for-all) who seems to think that any use of copyrighted material in a political commentary or other context is de facto a violation of YouTube’s ToS.  That may or may not be true, and I’m sure as a private entity there would be dozens of reasons YouTube’s management could give to take down or mute videos, or suspend an account on the basis that the video maker had used copyrighted material without express permission and licensing fees.  That’s really not central to my interest in these musings, though perhaps it should be.

What is central is the net impact of something like the DMCA, and the muting of dissent that can spin off of its exercise, which more or less compels a site like YouTube to take down a video if an allegation of infringement is made by a copyright holder contending (possibly just by pattern matching software rather than any use of human judgement) that a particular piece of video is infringing.

I well understand at least the broad dimensions of the conflict of laws issues that are implicit here.  Though not being an IP lawyer, my interpretations may be sketchy.  But I’m really more interested in how this may be a contributing factor to the increasing irrelevancy of and difficulty in calling to task, those media conglomerates who may have played a huge role in the levels of distraction that led to the present shambles we seem (at least most Americans) to be awakening to in recent months.  Yes, I could have made a video that spelled out in detail my response to Cramer’s statements and obfuscations in my own voice-over narration, and perhaps have presented Cramer and Stewart’s words as on screen quotes.  But by my estimate, it would probably have been 60 minutes long or longer, had I chosen that course, at least to “say” what I think I’ve said by juxtaposing audio-only excerpts against images meant to elicit a critical response.  That part may be a failure in editing or in concept… I don’t really know how anyone else will interpret my juxtaposings (if that is even a word) — in fact I’m kind of curious just how many disparate interpretations might come of it, if it’s even mildly of interest to any viewer.  Please forgive my pretensions… put it down to my seeing too many Kenneth Anger and Luis Buñuel films in my misspent youth.

If you find the time, please tell me in your comments if you think the following video is or is not an example of “fair use” in a political commentary.  I’ll grant you in advance that it may be overly subtle and the irony may fly over some heads and strike others as trite or annoying.  But try to push away your personal views on this for long enough to tell me, is it or is it not a form of political speech?  Also feel free to dismantle the “fair use” rationale offered below the fold, and if this is political speech, suggest anyone who might want to take the case, should Viacom issue a DMCA takedown demand based on the edited audio excerpts.  

No need to have scruples about YouTube, the vimeo version is below.

The Game (Commentary) from B Unis on Vimeo.

Feb 24 2009

Why Did SEC “Stand Down” on Fraud Investigations?

In this post at Democratic Underground, EFerrari asks How much of economic meltdown is Iran Contra, continued?  The writer mentioned two reports that haven’t received a lot of press:  (emphasis mine)

First, there’s this from a post dated Feb. 20, 09 on Rep. Kucinich’s website Kucinich:  Who told SEC to “Stand Down” on Sanford Probe?

Chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today sent a letter to Ms. Mary Schapiro, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting documents that could reveal which government agency told the SEC to “stand down” rather than take enforcement action against the Stanford Group in October 2006 as has been reported by the New York Times.

Recent media reports have indicated that the SEC was aware of improprieties at Stanford Financial Group as early as October 2006, but withheld action at the request of another government agency.

More….

Sep 19 2008

Obama: “Fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other-way crowd”

 

Barack Obama campaigned Thursday in Española, New Mexico.

At a rally there, he responded to McCain’s weak call to fire Christopher Cox, SEC chairman, and former Republican congressman from California.

Reuters reports, Obama implies McCain is ranting:

“You can’t erase 26 years of support for the very policies and people who helped bring on this disaster with one week of rants,” Obama said.

Why just stop at firing Cox as one symbolic scapegoat?

In response to McCain’s call for getting rid of the SEC chairman, Obama said: “Here’s what I say — in 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other-way crowd in Washington who have led us down this disastrous path. Don’t just get rid of one guy.”

Yeah! Obama is spot on here. It is the conservatives’ failed ideas and failed policies that have gotten our economy in this mess.

Sep 18 2008

McCain Calls for SEC Chair Christopher Cox to be Fired

(cross-posted at DailyKos)

At a campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, IA on Thursday, John McCain laid part of the blame for our economic crisis on SEC Chairman Christopher Cox and said that he would fire Cox if he was President.  McCain said that Chairman Cox “in my view, has betrayed the public’s trust. If I were President today, I would fire him.”

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