Ray Bursey, one of our Newfoundland members, not long ago, sent a link to a recent article in the INVESTMENT EXECUTIVE , which dealt with the record payout by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to a record number of whistleblowers.
Record payout, record number of whistleblowers by the end of the first quarter of this year?! Think this is an April Fool’s statement? It is not. What will that look like by the end of the year?
Recently, we posted an article titled Wall Street integrity, the oxymoron to end them all.
The article dealt with SEC enforcement actions with associated fines against Wall Street investment banks. In 2020, largely due to COVID-19, the SEC brought a record low of 405 actions against investment banks.
And the amount? At $4.68 billion, the amount was a record high!
And the reasons? Market manipulation, insider trading, misleading information about securities, the omission of important information about securities, stealing customers’ funds or securities and other crimes that would hurt investors if undiscovered.
And who pays? It appears that the investment banks pay, but for the real answer, look in the mirror.
Who pays the whistleblowers? Again, look in the mirror.
Can investors prosper, Wall Street “integrity” being what it is?
