The Securities and Exchange Commission reports that it is receiving about seven (7) whistleblowers tips per day, and has received 334 tips in the first 50 days since the program became fully operational on August 12. At the current rate, the program should receive 2,438 tips a year. (“Whistle-Blowers, 7 per Day, Seek SEC Bounties,” […]
Members of Congress are repeatedly using their positions to personally profit at the expense of other investors as described in Hoover Institute fellow Peter Schweizer’s recently published a book entitled “Throw Them All Out.” Among other things, it details insider trading by Congressmen that would be clearly illegal if done by anyone else. Last Sunday, […]
The Securities and Exchange Commission improperly destroyed internal documents and the explanation it gave to the National Archives was “inaccurate or misleading,” according to David S. Hilzenrath’s Washington Post article entitled “SEC misled Archives on destroying records, inspector general finds,” citing the Inspector General’s report on the subject.
What kind of regulator would alter documents requested by its regulator? The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) does, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2008, employees at FINRA’s Kansas City office altered three documents just hours before producing them to the SEC pursuant to a document request. The documents were records of staff […]
Most investors would obviously like to be out of a stock BEFORE a fraud hits the fan. John Waggoner’s recent article entitled “Audit fees can serve as [an] early red flag?If they’re sky-high, that could mean stock trouble” provides a valuable tip that may allow investors to unload a stock before it tanks. He is […]
Bank of New York Mellon has been sued in separate civil lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Attorney General of New York seeking damages in excess of $2 billion related to BNY’s alleged practice of fraudulently misleading and overcharging public pension funds, universities, and other clients for foreign exchange (FX) currency […]
The SEC’s Inspector General, David Kotz, has reportedly confirmed that the SEC improperly shredded documents related to closed investigations, and misled another federal agency, the National Archives and Records Administration, which had confronted the SEC last year about record destruction. Mr. Kotz’s report was issued to the SEC and has not officially been made public.
Jobs at Wall Street banks are being eliminated at an increasingly rapid pace and this bodes ill for many employed in the financial services sector. Bloomberg’s recent article “UBS Bankers Face Dwindling Options for Jobs” underscores this situation. Those pushed out at UBS will doubtless find few opportunities on Wall Street. The bigger story, however, […]
A Bank of America employee will collect $930,000 from his former employer, Bank of America, for being fired in violation of the whistleblower protections. The employee blew the whistle on fraud at Countrywide Financial Corp. and led internal investigations that found “pervasive wire, mail and bank fraud involving Countrywide employees,” according to the U.S. Department […]
More than a year after it was created by the Dodd-Frank financial reform act, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened its Office of the Whistleblower on August 12, 2011. According to a statement released by SEC Director of Enforcement Robert Khuzami, “early and quick law enforcement action is the key to preventing securities […]
