Re: SEC Gave "Preferential Treatment" to Wall Street CEO (and in the end, only whistleblower suffers)

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Ethan Ackerman" <eackerma () u washington edu>
Date: October 8, 2008 10:52:04 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] SEC Gave "Preferential Treatment" to Wall Street CEO  
(and in the end, only whistleblower suffers)
Reply-To: eackerma () u washington edu

Greetings Dave,

As important as the claims of SEC oversight failure and favoritism
are, it should also be noted that after all these OIG reports, Senate
hearings, testimony-taking and news articles, what has actually
changed?  How is the status quo different?

The only difference I see is the employment status of the SEC
'whistleblower,'  Gary Aguirre.  He's was fired and threatened by the
SEC with criminal sanction for unauthorized disclosure of SEC material
- for testifying to the US Senate, no less...
( http://www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=539 )

Im pretty sure that the message the U.S. wants to send to
whistleblowers isn't "nothing will happen, except you'll lose your job
and have to hire a lawyer," but it's hard to conclude anything else
from this debacle.





On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 9:02 AM, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: "lynn" <lynn () ecgincc com>
> Date: October 8, 2008 8:48:26 AM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Report: SEC Gave "Preferential Treatment" to Wall Street CEO
>
>
> http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5970263&page=1
>
> Report: SEC Gave "Preferential Treatment" to Wall Street CEO
>
> The SEC gave "preferential treatment" to Wall Street executive John  
> Mack
> during an insider trading investigation three years ago because Mack  
> was
> about to become CEO of the Morgan Stanley investment banking firm, the
> SEC's inspector general concluded in a report obtained by ABC News.
> Many say the Securities and Exchange Commission didn't enforce Wall  
> Street
> Laws.
>
> The report recommended disciplinary action against the SEC's chief of
> enforcement, Linda Thomson, and said the firing of an SEC lawyer was
> "connected" to his persistent attempts to take Mack's testimony.  
> Read the
> report's conclusion and recommendations here.
>
> "There's a culture at the SEC that they're not willing to take on  
> the big
> boys, whether big economically or big politically," said Sen. Charles
> Grassley (R-IA) who requested the inspector general's investigation.
>
> It is a damning indictment of the SEC at a time when it is being  
> asked to
> step up its enforcement action against Wall Street.
> Related
> FBI, SEC, Federal Reserve 'Failed to Connect the Dots' to Wall Street
> WATCH: Warning Signs at Lehman?
>
> "They ought to be able to challenge anybody regardless of their  
> economic
> might or regardless of their political might," said Sen. Grassley.
>
> Grassley asked for the investigation after a SEC lawyer who sought  
> to take
> Mack's testimony, Gary Aguirre, was fired.
> snip
>
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
> Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
> RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
> Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com




-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com