Posted on 09/02/2009 11:17:29 PM PDT by Attention Surplus Disorder
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission overlooked "more than ample" evidence, including six complaints, that red-flagged the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, an internal watchdog said Wednesday.
A broad review of the SEC and its efforts at tracking Madoff found a "thorough and competent investigation was never performed."
"Despite numerous credible and detailed complaints, the SEC never properly examined or investigated Madoff's trading and never took the necessary, but basic, steps to determine if Madoff was operating a Ponzi scheme," according to a 22-page SEC inspector general report.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
And now, you want to tell me this same government that took SIX YEARS to figure this out, this is the government you want to handle your health care...?
“a “thorough and competent investigation was never performed.”
This is the classic deflection line. Never mind a “thorough and competent” investigation...
An amateurish, casual, really really easy telephone call to the DTCC would have disclosed in days, if not minutes, that Madoff hadn’t made a single trade in years, meanwhile, he was claiming that he was doing billions in options; a volume of business that would have not just showed up, but would have had a significant influence on the options markets.
No dog poo Sherlock.
“After working at the SEC, Ms. Schapiro became head of the NASD’s regulatory arm in 1996, of the NASD itself in 2006, and then head of Finra after its creation in 2007.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123194123553080959.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
This is just CYA propaganda. Madoff was allowed to continue his fraud because he was politically connected. Mary Schapiro, Obama's new SEC commissioner, was head of FINRA an organization charged with regulating the securities industry during all these scandals. She went along with the Madoff fraud and received warnings about Madoff just like the SEC did.
“After working at the SEC, Ms. Schapiro became head of the NASD’s regulatory arm in 1996, of the NASD itself in 2006, and then head of Finra after its creation in 2007.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123194123553080959.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
This is just CYA propaganda. Madoff was allowed to continue his fraud because he was politically connected. Mary Schapiro, Obama's new SEC commissioner, was head of FINRA an organization charged with regulating the securities industry during all these scandals. She went along with the Madoff fraud and received warnings about Madoff just like the SEC did.
I heard today that the SEC never once checked the lists of trades that Madoff kept offering them to see if any of the trades were ever actually made. To check that even one trade was made would have required one phone call. Evidently, they took Madoff's word for it over the years.
The incompetence of the SEC in this is truly breathtaking. The "Trust, but verify!" principle apparently meant nothing to these 'regulators'...
I wouldn’t be surprised if some SEC officials were paid to look the other way...
It cannot be overemphasized what a complete lack of functioning neurons this represents. Madoff could have been torpedoed with one telephone call > follow-up letter in 1992 from the SEC to the DTCC.
The damage from Madoff done, I believe there’s a (more) important talking point to be made from this, because Madoff is one of those exceptionally rare topics that every single person agrees on. (There I go with the functioning neuron assumption again) And the point to be made is that our fine government in its infinite wisdom could not handle this situation even after all the work was done for them and the results delivered to their doorstep. TWICE. Markopolis didn’t call the SEC and leave cryptic telephone message hints. He didn’t slip papers surrepititiously under the janitor’s door. He carefully prepared the results of his investigation and formally delivered it to exactly the people who should have been interested.
“And you’re ready to put your health care in the hands of the prople who let Bernie Madoff run wild for 6 years after he was proven to be a fraud?”
“And you’re ready to put your health care in the hands of the people who let Bernie Madoff run wild for 6 years after he was proven to be a fraud?”
I agree with you 100%. The government has failed at almost everything it has done over the last 50 years. They should not be trusted with health care or any other large part of the economy.
The regulators were warned about Madoff since 1992 and given all the information needed to determine he was a fraud with just a few phone calls. Madoff was not shut down by the regulators. Had the market not crashed and Madoff had not been faced with redemptions he would have been able to continue much longer with no threats from the regulators. My point was that Mary Schapiro who is positioning herself as someone who is going to clean things up was a regulator in charge of FINRA and never made any attempt to regulate Madoff and others.
“I agree with you 100%. The government has failed at almost everything it has done over the last 50 years. They should not be trusted with health care or any other large part of the economy.”
My point is that that type of statement is very generalistic; and in this battle, I am trying to drill down to the very, very few undeniable truths that are out there in order to help persuade the drones. *THERE ARE SO DAMN FEW undeniable facts out there. In a world of depleted your-craniums and down-is-up and up-is-down and the technique is to accuse the other side of what you yourself are doing (I am not referring to “you” of course) the neurons out there do not have the attention span nor the inclination to divert from their diversions. Half this country thinks Jimmy Carter was a great president. Half this country thinks GWB is responsible for every disaster, natural and man made, during the past 25 years. Half this country thinks 0bama is the embodiment of hope for the future. Half this country cannot even name the Vice President! It is so hard to get thru to these folks on any rational level without becoming frustrated at the total lack of intellect and discernment, and the complete lack of an attention span. That is why I greedily seek these particular types of “truth nuggets”. In this case, it is not about Madoff, it’s about the government’s inability to run things, as you said. Even when their failures are obvious, even when their shortcomings are handed to them literally on a silver platter. And it also illustrates that there is no accountability for their many failures; your life is ruined, they get to review their procedures.
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