The Regulators Category

The organizations that regulate the financial services are there to make sure companies, advisors, and representatives adhere to the rules. They are supposed to identify the bad guys and jail them or kick them out the industry. But, don’t count on it! The SEC didn’t catch Madoff in almost 20 years and countless sales representatives have multiple client complaints on their records, but are still actively employed in the industry. The buck still stops with you when it comes to protecting your own assets.

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | January 22, 2010 | The Politicians, The Regulators

“Fed may have overpaid on AIG settlements: French banks received 100 cents on the dollar in a November 2008 deal with the Federal Reserve to settle trades with American International Group.” (Bloomberg 1/20)
Why does it appear that the Fed overpaid on AIG settlements? The answer seems obvious; to protect the counter-parties that entered into colossally [...]

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | December 7, 2009 | The Politicians, The Regulators

Either some journalists are really naïve or they are complicit in trying to pull the wool over taxpayers’ eyes. Today’s headline, US Cuts Estimate of Bank Bailout Costs and the statement, “The Obama administration had estimated the cost to taxpayers of the $700-billion Troubled Asset relief Program, or TARP, would be $341 billion but now [...]

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | November 12, 2009 | The Politicians, The Regulators, Wall Street Ethics

Ten years ago President Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act giving rise to financial conglomerates that apparently are considered too big to fail, and therefore turn to taxpayer handouts when they find themselves in financial trouble. This latest round of bailouts is already putting trillions of dollars of taxpayer funds at [...]

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com
About: Jack writes for the InvestorWatchdog website and Worth magazine. He worked in the financial services industry from 1976 to 2004. For twenty of those years he was the president of a Registered Investment Advisory firm and a Broker/Dealer. Jack is the author of Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor and is a co-founder of PaladinRegistry.com.See Authors Posts (88) | September 14, 2009 | The Politicians, The Regulators

Let’s face it, people who work for financial services companies are a lot smarter than people who work for the two primary industry regulators (SEC and FINRA).
But it doesn’t stop there. The SEC is controlled by politicians and the politicians cater to Wall Street special interests. The financial services industry spends $300 million per year [...]

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | September 1, 2009 | Investor Information, The Politicians, The Regulators, Wall Street Ethics

Since it appears through sheer luck we have averted a complete meltdown of our financial system, U.S. lawmakers have grown complacent about passing any legislation to alter the way Wall Street and large financial institutions do business. Being susceptible to Wall Street lobbying, there is resistance on Capitol Hill to enact any meaningful financial-reform. We [...]

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com
About: Jack writes for the InvestorWatchdog website and Worth magazine. He worked in the financial services industry from 1976 to 2004. For twenty of those years he was the president of a Registered Investment Advisory firm and a Broker/Dealer. Jack is the author of Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor and is a co-founder of PaladinRegistry.com.See Authors Posts (88) | August 30, 2009 | Ponzi Schemes, The Regulators

Bernie Madoff’s company was an SEC registered investment advisory firm when he voluntarily admitted he was running an illegal Ponzi scheme. He was not caught by a regulatory agency. In fact, being a regulated company may have helped him rip-off investors. They assumed he was legitimate because he was registered.
Why do so many bad [...]