As a former SEC attorney myself, I know how difficult it can be to work with limited staff, time, and money to reign in the fraud and deceit that seems to run rampant in Gotham… Excuse me, I meant Wall Street. But resources aside, some cases demand a full court press.
Monthly Archives: November 2011
You Will Be Missed, Barney Frank
Posted in Consumer ProtectionBarney Frank leaves us at a time when Washington needs him more than ever… We will miss his quick wit, outspoken courage, unconventional speaking style, and most importantly, his legacy for speaking from the heart–something we don’t get enough of in our nation’s capitol.
Garfield Taylor and Gibraltar Asset Management: Stealing from Your Own Community
Posted in In the CourtsRight here in Washington, DC, under the radar of regulators and law enforcement, Garfield Taylor and friends stole $30 million over the past five years from 130 hardworking and hardly wealthy local individuals. To make matters worse, Mr. Taylor foisted his fraud on a charitable foundation focusing on children’s issues and a Baptist Church. How… Continue Reading
Debtor’s Prison is Alive and Well in America
Posted in Consumer ProtectionNo kidding. According to the Wall Street Journal: More than one third of U.S. states allow borrowers who can’t or won’t pay to be jailed. Yes, jailed. Think Shawshank Redemption, the Birdman of Alcatraz. Jail, a 6′ x 8′ cell with an open toilet, a sink, two cots, and cellmate (and new best friend) Max,… Continue Reading
In Honor of Judge Eugene Hamilton, District of Columbia Superior Court (1933-2011)
Posted in In the CourtsAs we enter this Thanksgiving Season, I remember Judge Eugene Hamilton, who passed away on Friday.
Franz Gayl: Our Person of the Week
Posted in Person of the WeekThank you Mr. Gayl for likely saving the lives and limbs (literally) of hundreds if not thousands of troops deployed to Iraq during that difficult and very expensive war. We can’t give you a congressional medal of honor, but we can make you our person of the week.
The “Crackdown” on Ponzi Schemes — Why the Prosecutors are Targeting the Wrong People
Posted in Banks and Financial ServicesHo hum. Nothing new, regulators will go after “low hanging fruit.” The easy targets. Think about the drug dealer on the corner instead of the kingpin who travels around in a limousine, never soiling his leather-gloved hands in the day-to-day affairs of the criminal enterprise.
Occupy Wall Street, More than Tents in the Park: Yesterday’s Actions By Police Will Only Strengthen this Nascent Movement
Posted in Consumer ProtectionYesterday’s effort by 1,000 riot police officers to clear protestors from Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland—and today’s follow-up in New York’s Zuccotti Park—will do little to diminish the movement. In fact, it may instead strengthen forces on the ground, and those safely participating in their homes and offices by emailing and blogging away. Occupy Wall… Continue Reading
Dropped Calls, Dropped Calls and More Dropped Calls: An Open Letter to AT&T and Chairman Randall Stephenson
Posted in Social PolicyI do not ask much. I don’t need to make calls from the cargo hold of a jet liner at 30,000 feet – like Jack Bauer. No, in fact, all I want to do is call my mother.
The Best and Brightest: Ethics and Wall Street
Posted in Social PolicyIf they do take the path of Wall Street and “finance” they should be required to take and pass a rigorous one-year ethics course and exam. And that course should include a field trip to a minimum security prison – the one in North Carolina comes to mind – where Bernie Madoff will spend the rest of his life and Raj Rajaratan will soon become a guest of the Federal Government.
Bailouts and Bonuses: How Wall Street Wins Whether They’re Right or They’re Wrong
Posted in Banks and Financial ServicesHeads: the risks pan out, the executives look like geniuses, and they have “earned” their multimillion dollar bonuses and Cuban cigars. Tails: the uberderivative financial instruments that these “geniuses” have concocted crash, as in the subprime mortgage crisis… There are simply no negative consequences. Financial institutions, three years since the beginning of the global financial… Continue Reading
The Ascendancy of the Traders: Wall Street’s Curse Results in MF Global’s Demise
Posted in Consumer ProtectionIt happens so fast. One day they are here (Lehman Brothers, now MF Global), the next day they are gone. Poof. How is it that these multi-billion dollar institutions, with thousands of employees, simply disappear in a day? Ok, fine. Business is bad, lay off a few folks, reduce bonuses, no more free soda and… Continue Reading
Big Banks Forced to Scrap Debit Fee Idea
Posted in Banks and Financial ServicesCould there be a better example of the benefits of transparency? Imagine that: when the banks actually disclose a fee to consumers, they have the capacity to vote with their feet–in this case by migrating to competitor banks with a more customer-friendly policy. This is free market economics at its best.