As distressing as some of the enforcement ‘misses’ by the Securities and Exchange Commission have been (read Madoff), it’s even more distressing to contemplate the semingly bottomless well of malfeasance in the securities industry.
The details of the latest insider trading charges revealed Thursday by prosecutors are shocking in the number of people involved and the reasonable deduction that if this alleged ring was stopped there likely are plenty more out there.
Robert S. Khuzami, who recently joined the SEC as the head of enforcement, had some tough but true things to say about insider trading that apply to any kind of securities fraud. This quotes are from a prepared statement for Thursday’s press conference announcing the charges.
“We expose the apparent ease with which these Wall Street professionals, corp0rate insiders, analysts and lawyers disregarded the rules and their duties to clients and shareholders for kickbacks and easy profits.
“Their misconduct threatens to undermine confidence upon which our capital martkets depend.
“These men and women had obligations to their employers, their clients and our markets.”
That’s an interesting notion, an obligation to the markets themselves.
