"Federal prosecutors are investigating whether two [SEC] enforcement lawyers violated insider-trading laws, a potential scandal at an agency normally the pursuer in such cases. ... The report didn't identify the employees. One, who the report said had been with the SEC since 1981, is a female staff lawyer, according to people familar with the matter. The report said the other is a man who works in the enforcement division's chief counsel office, a key position that vets all cases, ensures consistency across the division, and often offers advice to attorneys. ... Violating internal SEC rules wouldn't necessarily be illegal or criminal. ... The partially redacted inspector general's report said the SEC has 'essentially no compliance system' to detect potential insider trading. It said the agency didn't conduct spot checks on trading and the various offices that received trading reports didn't share information. The report recommended disciplinary action against the two employees, who continue to work for the agency. ... 'We take seriously even the suggestion that any SEC employee would engage in insider trading.' It said it is hiring a chief compliance officer and developing a new computer system so it can more easily review securities trading by SEC personnel. ... The female enforcement lawyer was a frequent trader and sought approval from the agency's ethics office for most of the trades, according to the inspector general's report. ... The female attorney under investigation was said to have traded 247 times from January 2006 through January 2008. The ... woman hadn't received clearance from the ethics office for 10 of the 247 transactions. The report said her portfolio was once valued at $170,000. ... He male colleague owned about 15 to 20 stocks valued at about $150,000", Kara Scannell at the WSJ, 16 May 2009.
More SEC snake oil. Which cases were these two lawyers working on and which had they worked on at any time in the last two years? Whose toes did, or were they, about to step on? How did the SEC find out about the 10 trades in question? How large were they? The two lawyers owned $320,000 in stocks, peanuts! I'm sure the trades and related profit if any, were miniscule. SEC IG David Kotz, have you anything important to do? The female lawyer should have left decades ago for her "NY BigLaw" job. Unless it is a NY BigLaw that is trying to push her out for doing her job. This case smells like a "set up", shades of Gary Aguirre, my 23 October 2008 post: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2008/10/who-is-stephen-cutler-2.html. I have every confidence Kotz's investigation will be a "whitewash" if these attorneys were on to something big.
5 comments:
Zounds... what a mess...
Division of Enforcement?
Maybe it should be renamed "Squash the Ants... Protect the Elephants Division"
Anonymous:
Are you paraphrasing my 4 August 2008 comment about the Justice Department, "Crush the Ants, Let the Elephants Dance"? This type of thinking seems to pervade the government.
Sounds like you work for the obviously "corrupt" SEC. Didn't you listen to, or read, the congressional testimony on the Gary Aguirre matter?!
Sure smelled to me like the SEC was covering its slippery tail!
Anonymous:
You must be joking. See my 28 February 2008 post, "Who is Stephen Cutler"? I am well aware of the Aguirre situation.
Well... credit has to be paid for the Mozilla indictment...
Mr. Countrywide cashes out $120 million plus while underwriting increasingly dodgy mortgages... shoot the elephants!
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