By Patrick Clark 9/05/12 1:12pm

trust issues

Mary L. Schapiro

Emails on Rule-Making for Uniform Fiduciary Standard Turn Up in Bloomberg FOIA Request

Bloomberg has a story today about a former Securities and Exchange Commission official who left the agency to work as a securities lawyer, and the cozy relationship she maintained with her former employer. It’s a long read, and a good one, reported out of FOIA’d emails between SEC employees and former agency commissioner Annette Nazareth—leaning on those emails to lift the curtain on the revolving-door phenomenon in which financial regulators leave government service for more lucrative work in service of financial firms.

The part that caught our eye concerns emails between Ms. Nazareth and David Becker, SEC general counsel and senior policy director in July 2009, and appear to concern Dodd-Frank’s specification for a uniform fiduciary standard to govern the behavior of broker-dealers and investment advisers. Read More

By Emily Witt 11/29/11 9:13am

The Law

Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup.

Judge Rakoff Gives the S.E.C. a Stern Talking To in Citigroup Smackdown

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff blocked a settlement between the S.E.C. and Citigroup, criticizing the S.E.C. for settling a case without proving the factual nature of its allegations and allowing the bank to pay a fine and admit no wrongdoing. His published opinion, which might provide some satisfactory morning reading to some of those New Yorkers enjoying “passive recreation” in Zuccotti Park, is scathing. Read More

By Emily Witt 4/20/11 7:46pm

White Collar Grime

FBI Now Giving Madoff the Serial Killer Treatment

The FBI has tasked agents from its Behavioral Analysis Unit with profiling the tics and traits of a Wall Street fraudster, according to Reuters.

As is pointed out a number of times in the article, this is a difficult task, since what makes people good at business might coincide with the things that make them Read More

By The Editors 4/05/11 11:56pm

Editorial

Schapiro's S.E.C.: Too Big to Succeed?

As The Observer‘s Maureen Tkacik noted two weeks ago, Mary Schapiro, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, is a popular figure in Washington. She wins high marks for her integrity, hard work and decency–qualities that often are in short supply in public life.

And yet, for all the affection, Ms. Schapiro finds herself in Read More

By Maureen Tkacik 3/30/11 12:14am

Cover Story

It’s SOS for the S.E.C.! Polite Mary Schapiro Polices the Plutocrats

Few cops are as well liked as Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro. “Oh, Mary is just a really nice, good person,” former S.E.C. commissioner Isaac Hunt told The Observer. “I don’t think anyone doesn’t love Mary.”

“Mary is extraordinarily smart, open-minded and her integrity is absolutely above reproach,” said Susan W. Phillips, an Read More

By Mike Taylor 1/04/11 1:33pm

Wall Street

Morning Roundup: Americans Love a Good Bankruptcy

  • Goldman Sachs’ investment in Facebook may help the social-networking site escape the added regulatory scrutiny that comes with an IPO. [NYT]
  • On the other hand, the Securities and Exchange Commission is already conducting an inquiry into Goldman’s plan to give its clients access to Facebook shares. Regulatory scrutiny may come one way Read More

By Adrianne Jeffries 12/28/10 9:12pm

secondary trading

Get Your Shares of Facebook Before It’s Too Late

The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the trading being done for shares in private companies that are expected to go public, Dealbook is reporting.

Much of that so-called “secondary trading” is happening in tech companies, specifically the social networking giants Twitter, Zynga and Facebook–especially Facebook.

The increase scrutiny could implicate New York Read More