SEC

What it will take to turn a new leaf at Citigroup

A federal judge has asked the SEC to explain how its settlement with Citigroup would keep the bank on the right path. Here are a few things the SEC should consider. By Eleanor Bloxham

Our unsettling Wall Street settlements

To avoid a repetition of the past, regulators should pay closer attention to the terms of their bank settlements. By Eleanor Bloxham

How to encourage the right kind of whistleblowers

Dodd-Frank critics argue that offering larger payouts for whistleblowers will cause an uptick in financially-motivated tips, but the concerns are misguided. By Eleanor Bloxham

Beware the perils of paying CEOs with stock

Regulators ought to pay closer attention to the growing body of evidence that CEOs paid in stock and options are not any more likely to act in his or her company's best interest. By Eleanor Bloxham

Why your shareholder vote may not count

Because of poor record keeping and a lack of regulatory oversight today, your vote, as a shareholder, may not be counted.

By Eleanor Bloxham, contributor

The alarm bells regarding the abusive back office processes of mortgage servicers were ringing back in 2007, but they mainly fell on deaf ears.

Legal scholar Katherine Porter's 2007 review of 1,700 cases in Misbehavior and Mistake in Bankruptcy Mortgage Claims concluded that "a majority of mortgage claims MORE

Note to Lloyd Blankfein: Stupidity is the best defense

Things look pretty blank and far from fine for Lloyd this morning. But buried within the situation is a strategy that may serve him well in the days to come. Ken Lay explored it to some effect. It's called executive ignorance, and anybody who has worked in the upper echelons of corporate life knows it's a very credible defense indeed.

I'm not saying it's true, mind you. Just credible. At least MORE

Why the enforcers didn't enforce

USA Today reports this morning that "Federal prosecution of serious financial crime plummeted as the nation headed toward one of the worst economic meltdowns in U.S. history."  The story then goes on to note that, according to government records, between 2003 and 2009 "the number of federal corporate fraud cases plunged 55%; securities fraud charges dropped 17%; and bankruptcy fraud cases fell by 44%."

This, of course, on the heels of MORE

The Confidence Garden

Word comes today that the SEC was informed about Bernie Madoff's miscreancies several years ago, but engineered a neat solution to let him off the hook. I hate to say I told you so. But I told you so.

Look at our economy as a gigantic brain, and the regulatory part that governs all the others has mouldered since, like, 1980, hanging like a withered appendix off the powerful other portions MORE