Free Republic

The United States government is preparing to charge SAC Capital, the multi-billion dollar hedge fund operated by the reclusive Wall Street trading legend Steven A. Cohen, with criminal charges, according to multiple reports. Manhattan-based federal prosecutors, working in conjunction with the FBI, are poised to move against the massive hedge fund as early as this week. On Wall Street, this type of criminal charge amounts to a death sentence, because few major clients would be willing to invest money with a firm under federal indictment. It’s possible that lawyers for Cohen, a secretive 57-year-old billionaire with lavish tastes in art...

WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission tapped Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive Adam Storch on Friday to serve as the agency's first-ever chief operating officer of the enforcement division. The new hire represents the latest personnel change at the SEC in its effort to improve its operations following its failure to detect Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme. Enforcement Division Director Robert Khuzami created Mr. Storch's position of managing executive as part of the major re-structuring effort he announced earlier this year. Mr. Storch will oversee division operations that include budget, information technology and administrative services. He will also supervise...