If a cop were to a issue a challenge (perhaps even a threat), and an organization calls the cop’s bluff and beats him like a drum in the process, what does that say about the cop, the organization, and the activity in question? To what do I allude? Well, let’s say for example, a criminal uses a laundromat for the purpose of facilitating his “business” but the laundromat is not held to proper account. Did the “business activity” ever really occur there? Did the cops ever fully and properly investigate and enforce their duty to uphold the law? Not that Americans are not already fully aware of the charades being played out in the world of financial regulation and oversight but the latest iteration really takes the cake. To what do I refer? More on Business Insider [...]
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Almost exactly four years after authorities shut down Allen Stanford’s $7 billion Ponzi scheme, his investors could finally get some of their money back—but it won’t be much. The court-appointed receiver rounding up Stanford’s assets has asked a federal judge for permission to distribute $55 million to some 17 thousand investors. The distribution, the first since Stanford’s assets were frozen in February, 2009, would amount to less than 1.3 cents on the dollar. See CNBC News report [...] LAREDO, TX. – The campaign combines the research and expansive knowledge base of the FINRA Foundation with the extensive consumer outreach of BBB’s trusted 100-year-old name and its 104 local operations across the United States. “Our partnership with BBB will help Americans in communities across the country protect their savings from fraudsters,” said Gerri Walsh, FINRA Foundation president. “The FINRA Foundation’s ‘Outsmarting Investment Fraud’ curriculum and resources have been field-tested, and give consumers the tools and information they need to thwart fraudsters touting investment scams.” More in The Laredo Sun [...] Roughly 18,000 defrauded investors in Allen Stanford’s $7 billion Ponzi scheme would receive an initial payment of $55 million for their claims, according to a plan submitted by a court appointed receiver on Friday. Stanford was sentenced last year to 110 years in prison for bilking investors with fraudulent certificates of deposit issued by Stanford International Bank, his bank in Antigua. More on Reuters [...] If you ask Bernie Madoff, Wall Street has a major pay problem on its hands. In a letter to CNBC from prison, the infamous Ponzi schemer wrote that signing bonuses, which Wall Street firms use to capture top staffers, are only a symptom of a larger compensation problem in the financial industry. Wall Street wasn’t wincing much when President Obama was re-elected and the Democrats held onto the Senate. They knew they were still ahead in the battle against tougher investor protection standards. Two of the biggest advocates for investor protection — Rep. Barney Frank and former SEC chair Mary Schapiro — are gone. Although Frank may fill in to temporarily replace Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) if he’s confirmed as the new Secretary of State, the two strongest proponents of Main Street safeguards are now footnotes in history. Read Forbes report [...] A group of MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MFGLQ) creditors proposed a liquidation plan that would pay as much as 41.5 cents on the dollar for unsecured claims after the company reached key settlements last month with affiliates. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Blue Mountain Timberline Ltd., Cyrus Capital Partners LP, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Silver Point Capital LP and Waterstone Capital Management LP are among the plan’s backers, according to a filing yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. The creditors said they hold about 65 percent of certain MF Global loans and bonds. “The plan proponents have proposed the plan to facilitate the prompt and efficient conclusion of the Chapter 11 cases,” they said in the accompanying disclosure statement. More on Bloomberg [...] Soon after Mary Schapiro, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, took office in 2009, she called Robert Khuzami, a former federal prosecutor who was then an attorney at Deutsche Bank, and asked him if he was interested in running the agency’s enforcement division. Robert Khuzami, the enforcement director at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission who worked to rebuild its tarnished image after the Bernard Madoff scandal and the financial crisis, said on Wednesday he is leaving the agency. Khuzami follows SEC chairman Mary Schapiro and several other high-profile SEC officials who have stepped down since President Barack Obama’s re-election in November. The SEC did not name a replacement for Khuzami, who is expected to leave at the end of the month. Read Reuters report [...] The bankruptcy judge overseeing Bernard Madoff’s liquidation can hear lawsuits the trustee brought against customers over fraudulent transfers and submit proposed rulings to a higher court, a federal judge ruled. More on Bloomberg [...] |
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