Saturday, Apr 17, 2010

The first step to root out pathology in banking

Greg Pytel: Just a start?...

Goldman Sachs case can be momentous as, hopefully, it is the beginning of a major clean-up. Americans have a pretty good record on that. They went after criminals behind Enron, WorldCom and Tyco scandals. They nailed Madoff. Hopefully they will get by the scruff of their neck all those who turned the financial system into a giant global pyramid scheme that caused the current financial crisis.

Posted by ant @ 09:12 AM (763 views) Add Comment

6 Comments

1. devo said...

USA v Banks

this is going to be interesting

the world is watching and waiting, Obama: no pressure

Saturday, April 17, 2010 09:29AM Report Comment
 

2. quiet guy said...

@Ant

"Americans have a pretty good record on that. They went after criminals behind Enron, WorldCom and Tyco scandals. They nailed Madoff."

I hope you'll forgive me for being a nit-picker but the Madoff saga was one of the most terrible regulatory failures. Madoff handed himself in after years of running rings around the SEC because his pyramid scheme had collapsed. There is a theory that he had swindled organized crime syndicates which may explain why he didn't run away - prison being relatively safe compared to the alternatives.

http://www.businessinsider.com/sec-regulators-also-headed-to-sweat-lodge-2009-9
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/02/news/economy/Madoff_SEC_investigation/index.htm?postversion=2009090214
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/04/news/newsmakers/madoff_whistleblower/

So far, the SEC's record on prosecuting bank fraud has been pathetic; they cannot take any credit for prosecuting Madoff. Let's hope the attack on Goldman Sachs is the start of a new approach.

Saturday, April 17, 2010 10:31AM Report Comment
 

3. icarus said...

quiet guy - yes, and of course it's the failure of the SEC, Fed etc. to regulate that lets things get out of hand - e.g. they were both warned about the dangers of predatory subprime lending back in 2000. Their "successes" amount to shutting the stable door, often under pressure from others. And we still have those OTC derivatives, with Wall Street blocking reform and transparency.

Saturday, April 17, 2010 10:43AM Report Comment
 

4. ant said...

@quiet guy: "pretty good" means "pretty good" (not ideal or perfect). And is a matter of opinion. In case of Madoff such guy in the UK would not end up in jail but most likely in the House of Lords.

Saturday, April 17, 2010 12:29PM Report Comment
 

5. Open Minded said...

Who is Greg Pytel? Google him and you get his blog, this site and a couple of minor references. He wouldn't happen to be one of the HPC regulars would he?

Saturday, April 17, 2010 02:56PM Report Comment
 

6. Mwmolloy said...

Actually, I think that you might be optimistic...it would seem that Goldman Sachs owns the government from the way the Obama admin is behaving. Remember that GS is BO's largest single monetary donar. And thats just the payments that are out in the open. Imagine what's going on behind closed doors. It would seem that it doesnt matter a damn whether its Bush or Obama in the chair, the banks are in charge.

Saturday, April 17, 2010 03:07PM Report Comment
 

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