U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro told lawmakers on Thursday she has apologized to fellow commissioners for failing to disclose a potential conflict of interest by the SEC’s former top lawyer. Read Reuters report [...]
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The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) former top attorney strongly defended himself Thursday from claims of conflicts of interest in his government work involving Ponzi Schemer Bernie Madoff. David Becker, the SEC’s former general counsel, was unflinching in defending his actions at the SEC before lawmakers, even as SEC Inspector General David Kotz has asked the Justice Department to determine whether he violated criminal conflict of interest laws. Read more in The Hill [...] The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission is facing increased scrutiny from lawmakers after a former top commission official said he was cleared to work on how victims of Bernard Madoff’s scheme should be compensated, even though he benefited financially from Madoff’s scheme. The former SEC general counsel, David Becker, said in testimony to a House hearing Thursday that he was told by agency ethics officials he had no conflict of interest in helping craft the SEC policy. Read Huffington Post report [...] The Securities and Exchange Commission’s change of heart with regard to the long-suffering investors of Allen Stanford is now a little more clear. Earlier this week, the SEC’s inspector general released his latest report, this one focusing on potential conflicts of interest involving David Becker, the commission’s former general counsel and senior policy director. Read more on chron.com [...] In hindsight, a scam like the one Bernie Madoff perpetrated on his victims looks like it should’ve been a cinch to detect. Madoff’s clients were promised steady returns of 10%-12% per year; that should’ve looked impossible even to novice investors, particularly given the extreme market volatility that marked the first decade of the 21st century. Financial analyst and Madoff whistle-blower Harry Markopolos said he knew that Madoff had faked his clients’ returns within five minutes of seeing them. Read more on Morningstar.com [...] Annette Bongiorno’s bail conditions were altered Wednesday, so that she can leave her home between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. five days a week. She will be outfitted with an ankle bracelet with a GPS tracking function. She was previously subject to home incarceration and electronic monitoring. Read Wall Street Journal article [...] Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz are facing a $1 billion lawsuit from Picard, who claims that the pair “knew or should have known” what Madoff was up to. A source to the New York Daily News reports that the pair will likely settle with Picard out of court before the trial that is supposed to start in March. Read more on Yahoo! Sports [...] Not all cases are so black and white. The law on insider trading, which has developed over the years from judicial rulings and is not specifically found in a statute, is ambiguous enough to allow for a range of interpretations. And at a time when the government is accused of going easy on white-collar crime, Khuzami has pursued an aggressive approach, pushing the boundary of what is deemed illegal. Strengthening the S.E.C.’s long-running effort, Khuzami has focused, particularly, on the hedge fund industry, which for reasons related to its competitiveness, capital and connections, he sees as especially prone to insider trading. Wall Street has taken notice. Read New York Times article [...] A former top lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission plans to publicly defend his actions Thursday before Congress, two days after the agency’s internal watchdog recommended he face a Justice Department investigation for violating criminal conflict-of-interest laws. Read Wall Street Journal article [...] Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission general counsel David Becker said he didn’t violate the law when he worked on agency policy about the Bernard Madoff case after inheriting money from the Ponzi scheme. Becker, who stepped down in February, made the statement in remarks prepared for a U.S. House hearing today. He is testifying along with SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro and H. David Kotz, the inspector general who earlier this week released a 119-page report calling for Becker’s conduct to be reviewed by federal prosecutors. Read Bloomberg report [...] |
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