Underwriters are obliged to follow securities laws. They must perform due diligence, and make honest disclosures. Among other things, they cannot conceal illegal conduct, affirm false representations or allow them to go unchallenged, distribute materially misleading information, fail to disclose red flags, or fail to disclose suspicions of potential fraud.
Unfortunately, regulators connected to the banking system have looked the other way, and the past and current Washington administrations have turned a blind eye to fraud. Most of the remedies have come from civil litigation.
Negligence by the SEC, failure to investigate, failure to initiate criminal prosecutions, ridicule from those directly and indirectly benefiting from malfeasance, snark from so-called reporters on on so-called business television, apologias from on-the-payroll academics: none of these things change the obligation of underwriters to obey the law.
This is another example of how government lives above us and is not subject to the same moral standards as the rest if us. If a private sector company had threated retaliation against the S&P for downgrading their credit rating, rest assured that Geithner would be working to prosecute that company and it's executives to the full extent of the law.
Varney is such a statist.
ReplyDeleteThe Financial Media Has Let You Down
ReplyDeleteUnderwriters are obliged to follow securities laws. They must perform due diligence, and make honest disclosures. Among other things, they cannot conceal illegal conduct, affirm false representations or allow them to go unchallenged, distribute materially misleading information, fail to disclose red flags, or fail to disclose suspicions of potential fraud.
Unfortunately, regulators connected to the banking system have looked the other way, and the past and current Washington administrations have turned a blind eye to fraud. Most of the remedies have come from civil litigation.
Negligence by the SEC, failure to investigate, failure to initiate criminal prosecutions, ridicule from those directly and indirectly benefiting from malfeasance, snark from so-called reporters on on so-called business television, apologias from on-the-payroll academics: none of these things change the obligation of underwriters to obey the law.
http://www.tavakolistructuredfinance.com/2009/07/cnbc-and-fox-business/
This is another example of how government lives above us and is not subject to the same moral standards as the rest if us. If a private sector company had threated retaliation against the S&P for downgrading their credit rating, rest assured that Geithner would be working to prosecute that company and it's executives to the full extent of the law.
ReplyDelete