SEC news stories on Newser

SEC Dumps Millions on Consultants

Kevin Spak — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:31:49 CST

The Securities and Exchange Commission is, by its own admission, something of an organizational mess right now, so it's done what many corporations have done: called in consultants. In less than a year, the SEC has spent more than $8.5 million on consultants, Reuters reports, hiring first the Boston...

SEC Letting Big Banks Skirt Fraud Penalties

Kevin Spak — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:13:39 CST

The Securities and Exchange Commission has repeatedly allowed Wall Street's biggest banks to avoid penalties specifically intended to punish and deter fraud, a New York Times analysis of SEC records reveals. Over the past decade, the SEC has on almost 350 occasions granted waivers exempting big financial companies from sanctions,...

Real-Life 'Rudy' Settles SEC Fraud Case for $383K

Mark Russell — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 05:46:49 CST

Daniel Ruettiger—the man who inspired the 1993 movie Rudy , about an undersized student who earned a spot on Notre Dame's football team—is paying a full-sized $382,866 to settle fraud charges with the SEC, reports the Wall Street Journal . Ruettiger and 12 accomplices were charged with a "pump-and-dump"...

SEC Sues Ex- Fannie, Freddie CEOs

Matt Cantor — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:28:18 CST

Federal regulators are suing former Fannie Mae boss Daniel Mudd and ex-Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron for vastly downplaying the volume of subprime loans their firms held. Freddie Mac suggested it was exposed to between $2 billion and $6 billion in subprime loans; the figure was more like $244 billion....

SEC Not Firing Anyone for Missing Madoff's Scheme

John Johnson — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:12:47 CST

SEC staffers managed to miss Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme for more than a decade despite numerous warnings, but that is apparently not a fireable offense. The agency disciplined eight employees involved in the case, with the most severe punishment being a 30-day suspension coupled with a demotion, reports the Washington...

SEC Sees 'Apparent Failures' at Ratings Agencies

John Johnson — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:23:06 CDT

The SEC wagged its finger at the ratings agency industry today, accusing each of the 10 registered companies of "apparent failures" in key areas, including how they manage conflicts of interest, reports Reuters . Alas, those looking for specifics against the likes of Moody's, Fitch, and Standard & Poor's are out...

SEC Shredded Files to Cover Up Crimes: Whistleblower

Kevin Spak — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:47:40 CDT

Police aren’t generally in the habit of destroying evidence from failed investigations—but the SEC is, according to one whistleblower. SEC attorney Darcy Flynn spilled the beans to Congress in July, saying that the SEC routinely destroys all documents related to its preliminary investigations if they don’t proceed. That appears...

SEC Probing S&P Downgrade

Mark Russell — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:38:05 CDT

The SEC wants to know who knew about S&P's decision to downgrade the United States credit rating before it happened, as part of a very initial look at whether insider trading violations occurred, reports the Financial Times . Those involved in the case say the investigation isn't based on any evidence...

Times May Have Crossed Line by Snooping Emails

John Johnson — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:00:05 CDT

The New York Times today has a lengthy backgrounder on the case of Fabrice Tourre, the young Goldman Sachs trader sued by the SEC on allegations of fraud. What has caught the eye of most bloggers, though, isn't any revelations in the story but the way it was sourced: Much...