If you have something to say...
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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
The ruling of Judge Rakoff has caused consternation on Wall Street.
Kiryas Joel is a legally recognized municipality outside of New York City, whose population is made up almost entirely of members of the Satmar branch of Hasidic Judaism. It appears as an island of uniformity.
This week, as police shut down the Occupy encampment in Los Angeles, a trio of stories fortified the movement's fundamental argument about the two-tiered nature of our democracy. First up was a report on how, in July 2008, then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson gave a group of Wall Street cronies inside information on the rescue of Fannie and Freddie. Then came word that, in the midst of the financial meltdown, the Fed had secretly loaned banks $7.7 trillion with absolutely no strings attached -- loans the banks used to turn a $13 billion profit (while foreclosures escalated and small businesses struggled to get loans). Finally, heroic Judge Jed Rakoff's rejection of a sweetheart fraud settlement the SEC had gift-wrapped for Citigroup turned a spotlight on how the public interest is routinely sacrificed on the altar of expediency, and how the lack of accountability makes it much more likely that the wrongdoers will do wrong again and again without paying a real price.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Citibank mistook Federal Judge Jed S. Rakoff for a robo-signer to their toothless fraud settlement deal. Big mistake.
In light of the financial meltdown, many thought that, finally, the Wall Street cop -- the SEC -- was back on the beat. Sadly, the agency's recent settlement with Citigroup makes it look like they are still more interested in appearing tough than being tough.
Let's face it, when you count your blessings this year the first thing that springs to mind is not going to be the New York state legislature. Still, there's lots in New York to give thanks for.
We all know the story of Dr. Frankenstein, whose well intentioned discovery of reviving the dead regrettably creates a monster who wreaks havoc on his...
This is the right time for a Supreme Court justice whose strong suit is securities law, and whose history shows he's not afraid to put that enormous expertise to use on the side of the people.
When corporate perpetrators don't have to admit they did anything wrong, it's as if the crime never happened. Which, of course, makes it much more likely that it will happen again.
Shock waves from Judge Jed Rakoff's scathing denunciation of a proposed settlement between the SEC and the Bank of America are still rippling through Wall Street and Washington.
Ken Lewis likes to spring news on the market, which is why his resignation from Bank of America shouldn't have been all that surprising. But it was and here's why.
Bank of America executives were paid $5.8 billion in bonuses when they merged with Merrill Lynch. Shareholders were not merely misled by the banks, but fed a bold-faced lie.
A new report finds that an amazing 92 percent of the directors of TARP recipients who were in place before the financial crisis of 2008 still hold their jobs.
In my humble opinion we should hire as many special prosecutors as are needed to investigate the stuff that happened on Wall Street that has screwed up our country and put as many as called for into jail.
Why has it been left to one stellar judge to sound the alarm on Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, and why is Congress and the Obama administration looking the other way?
