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Former SEC Officials Demand SEC Chief: Stop Protecting Corporate Cronyism

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

In early 2013, before Mary Jo White was confirmed as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), I wrote a post predicting she would be a bankster codling fraud in the post, Meet Mary Jo White: The Next SEC Chief and a Guaranteed Wall Street Patsy. Here’s an excerpt:

Obama’s nominee to head the SEC, Mary Jo White, is just another gatekeeper appointed to make sure no one ever goes after the Wall Street crime syndicate.  As I have written about many times in the past, Obama does not nominate anyone to a high position of power in government who will not behave like a good little lapdog for Wall Street.

 

Despite Obama’s propagandist statement about how “you don’t want to mess with Mary Jo,” her background implies she will function as a useful servant to the financial oligarchs.  Forget for a second about that fact at her recent firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP her clients included the usual suspects such as such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), and UBS AG, but she is actually known as the prosecutor who popularized the “slap Wall Street on the wrist” approach.

Two years later, and we can see this has come true with flying colors. In fact, “Mary Jo” is such a spineless patsy, three former top officials at the SEC recently wrote her a letter calling her out (thanks to Naked Capitalism for the heads up). Here’s the letter:

May 27th, 2015

Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549

 

Chair Mary Jo White:

 

We the undersigned, all former Commissioners and Chairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), write in support of petition 4-637 (“to Require Public Companies to Disclose to Shareholders the Use of Corporate Resources for Political Activities”).

 

The petition has received a record-breaking 1.2 million supportive comments, illustrating the wide-spread importance of and need for action by the Commission to compel disclosure of political activities.

Despite the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United in 2010, allowing corporations greater freedom to spend shareholder money to influence politics, there have still been no new rules or procedures established to ensure that shareholders – those who actually own the wealth of corporations – are informed of decisions on spending their money on politics.

 

This lack of regulation is in direct conflict with one of the essential building blocks supporting the opinion in the case. It’s author, Mr. Justice Anthony Kennedy, justified permitting corporate political activities in large part on the expectation that shareholders and citizens would be informed of what those activities entailed. Thus, writing for the Court, he said:

 

“A campaign finance system that pairs corporate independent expenditures with effective disclosure has not existed before today. With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions…. Shareholders can determine whether their corporation’s political speech advances the corporation’s interest in making profits, and citizens can see whether elected officials are in the pocket of so-called moneyed interests.”

 

To date, the Court’s expectation of disclosure, which can only be assured by SEC rule, has been denied. It is now five years since Citizens United and almost four years since Petition 4-637 was filed. The Commission’s inaction is inexplicable. Its failure to act offends not only us, who are alumni of this agency struggling to retain our deep pride of association, but investors and the professionals who serve them. And it flies in the face of the primary mission of the Commission, which has since 1934 been the protection of investors. To use a metaphor, mandatory disclosure of corporate political activities should be a “slam dunk” for the Commission.

 

Sincerely,

 

William Henry Donaldson, 27th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,serving from February 2003 to June 2005 (R)

 

Arthur Levitt, 25th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, serving from 1993-2001 (D)

 

Bevis Longstreth, 60th Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, serving from1981 to 1984 (D)

As I’ve said on many occasions, the primary job of modern American regulators is to protect entrenched status quo interests. Protecting the public doesn’t even factor into the equation.

 

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Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:09 | 6146787 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

She is a disgrace to gnomes everywhere.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:12 | 6146799 doctor10
doctor10's picture

article makes a damn good argument for just shuttering most federal "regulatory" agencies.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:15 | 6146806 kliguy38
kliguy38's picture

please remove nail guns from house......note to self

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:34 | 6146845 sodbuster
sodbuster's picture

I've said this before, and most don't get it- ALL government agencies are held captive by the corporations. Because every agency is run by people selective to that agency. USDA- most under secretaries are from big ag business. SEC- people from finance. Health care- people from the health care industry, mostly insurance. Nuclear industry- people from the very corp that build the plants. Corporations have direct ties into every facet of our government. I am most familiar with USDA, cause I  farm, and there is a reason the small farmer is an endangered species. And there is a reason the livestock are mostly raised by huge factory farms- I have seen it firsthand, and the rules and regulations were changed to favor big business and squeeze out the small producer.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:47 | 6146872 SafelyGraze
SafelyGraze's picture

I was planning to add my own signature to the letter, but after consultation with colleagues I instead decided to reserve and/or withhold judgment pending evaluation of any and all new information

hugs,
bart chillton

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:02 | 6146897 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture

"Regulatory Agencies" are usually "Protection Agencies" in reality.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:23 | 6146925 Bullionaire
Bullionaire's picture

"Protection rackets"

 

FIFY

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 13:05 | 6146991 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Woah, hey, that banking you're doing looks like dangerous business.  Sure would be a shame if anyone got hurt.  You know, there's a way you can guarantee the safety of your business....

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 13:13 | 6146994 BuddyEffed
BuddyEffed's picture

Do you know how in the Back To The Future movies where Biff of the future was able to make himself rich and "Biff" his whole universe to the detriment of just about everybody but Biff?

I get the sense that someday many of the current rich will have epiphanies where they someday wake up and smell the cofffee and see that they traded their good faith and legacies for mere baubles too.

Feel free to use the term "Biffed' in your comments where appropriate.

 

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:05 | 6146905 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

So the powerful people put into regulatory positions by powerful politicians work in the interests of the status quo from which they draw their power? Imagine that!

Forget about "regulatory capture." That implies that the elites had started off with good intentions and the ability to accurately determine what is in the best interests of millions of individuals whom they've never met. There is no "capture," this is the way the game was always meant to be played.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 13:27 | 6147024 r00t61
r00t61's picture

I'll say it again.

Corruption is a feature of the system, not a bug.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 13:34 | 6147035 Mr. Magoo
Mr. Magoo's picture

if only the women were in charge, oh wait

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:40 | 6146860 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

Shutter not only most agencies, but 90% of the federal government and let the many states to back to screwing things up. The good states will gain and the bad states can go down the toilet and nobody will have to care......

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:07 | 6146907 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Or we could just admit that I own me and you own you and that asking the elites at any level to take ownership and treat us well is a very bad idea.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:16 | 6146790 JustObserving
JustObserving's picture

All regulators in the US have been captured for many years now.  You have to be Rip Van Winkle to not know that US markets have been corrupt, crony mechanisms to fleece the small investor for many years now.  

Ban HFT today to save the integrity of the markets - but that will will never happen. US justice officials are too busy arresting FIFA officers.

Is it any surprise that the top 0.1% have more wealth than the bottom 90% in the land of the free?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-11/fed-won-americas-01-are-now-wea...

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 14:49 | 6147176 Bobbo
Bobbo's picture

Regulators.  Now, how does one price an assett like that?  Where is the Regulator P/E when you need it to decide how much to pay for one.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:11 | 6146793 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

She is on the list

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:11 | 6146795 Ban KKiller
Ban KKiller's picture

Rule of Law is for SERFS only. White collar crime pays well and there is no DA or AG to worry about especially if you style your cimes like the banks. Police are too stupid to investigate white collar crime. The DAs and AGs office think it is banking crime if they see white collar and they are afraid to go after it AND they are incompetent, by design, to follow through. Need proof?

Show your AG, or local DA forged notes and assignments of mortgages that the banks have forged. See the reaction from DA and AG? Duh....umm...we...don't...understand white collar crime if banks do it. AND this is banks so....um...duh..we'll get back to you. 

Fucking stooges all around. So....white collar crime pays well. Get involved! 

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:12 | 6146797 holdbuysell
holdbuysell's picture

Yawn. Kabuki anyone?

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:14 | 6146801 jimfcarroll
jimfcarroll's picture

One of the few times I agree with Arthur Levitt.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:14 | 6146802 B2u
B2u's picture

but we all get free health care....right?

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:22 | 6146824 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

Inside your camp,yes.

The "showers" are wonderful.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:28 | 6146834 stant
stant's picture

They will have wifi

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 16:35 | 6147437 roadhazard
roadhazard's picture

If you believed the right wing. Death panels too.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:22 | 6146811 Restcase
Restcase's picture

Inform shareholders of political spending? Do you mean the bots (during their 2 milliseconds of ownership)? Or do you mean the central banks who own so many shares and who are slaves to the politicians reaping the very donations you wish to disclose?

This proposed legislation is quaint ... based on some kind of 1950s understanding.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:22 | 6146823 Bam_Man
Bam_Man's picture

She looks just like Moe Howard, which is very apropos.

What a stooge.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:23 | 6146826 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Arrest her and try her for treason. Exile her to Somalia with the rest of them.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:48 | 6146873 Newspeaktogo
Newspeaktogo's picture

I realize that Somalia is a fucked up place and that you want Mary JO sent there to suffer. But don't you think that sending the bitch to Somalia would fuck the place up even more and why do that? Somalia doesn't need to be fucked up any further. Why not just send her to Baltimore? They still need fucking up. Use your common sense, sir.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 18:30 | 6147688 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

Exile them to Somalia?  Hang them all high and send them to hell!

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:27 | 6146830 Counterpunch
Counterpunch's picture

They also demanded that she return The Precious....

tricksey, false SEC Chair!

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:30 | 6146836 Monetas
Monetas's picture

Mary Jo White .... a younger, cuter Janet Reno !

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:33 | 6146843 Pliskin
Pliskin's picture

If it looks like a retard, acts like a retard and talks like a retard then it's probably a retard.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:36 | 6146849 22winmag
22winmag's picture

Nothing burns my ass like these former government paycheck-collectors who write books and take paid speaking engagements to trash the agency they used to work for.

 

Being a whistleblower is one thing, but profiting from your past misdeeds (especially misdeeds while in public office) ought to be illegal.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 11:36 | 6146851 I Write Code
I Write Code's picture

Well, I agree, the SEC has pretty much vanished from the world, but that happened something like 20 years ago.  If not, they might have played a huge role in the 2008 collapse, like maybe helping to prevent it, under the guise that Lehman and others were perpetrating huge frauds on the people and the government.  So I'm all for that.

OTOH, is it the SEC's role to worry about corporate political activity?  I think not.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:04 | 6146903 Counterpunch
Counterpunch's picture

it's a great point, this is more political agitprop from the Left, fearful that corporations will create ads or movies that may induce some people to...wait for it... vote GOP.  That's all it is.

 

By the way, at issue in Citizens was a law that allowed .gov to {selectively} prosecute people for making a documentary about Hillary on the thin premise that they had formed a corporate entity to do it.

Last I checked, the NY Times was a corporation, and last I checked, the 1st amendment doesn't have any kind of speaker prohibition - it just says "shall not abridge"

 

What people who whine about that decision fail to recognize is that by their logic, a GOP DOJ could fine or jail say the editors at HuffPo or the Times for an editorial that favors a particular candidate... they are corporate entities, and no, "the press" did not and does not mean some sort of carve out for news media:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Const...

Yet over and over again, when presented with the fact the Times is a corporation, left wing idiots cite to the idea of 'freedom of the press.'

 

I'm more worried about billionaire $ than that of a corporation with a board and shareholders and customers they don't want to offend.  Adelson spend tens of billions trying to buy the presidency for Likud for fuck's sake - hardly a peep about that.

 

 

Just because money in politics is deemed a problem does not necessarily mean that a law ostensibly to limit that influence comports with the Constitution.  Unfortunately, for both right and left {but especially left} what they view as "Constitutional" is really no more than what they think the ruling should have been, completely divorced from the Constitution, its civil liberty scheme, and its limitations on .gov power.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 14:27 | 6147130 LooseLee
LooseLee's picture

Money is not free speech. It is a tool; a utility. It is not related to Freedom of expression like, say, a dance. It exists separately from the 'actor' and therefore is incapable of 'self-expression'. Therefore, money as 'Free Speech' is a lie and a fraud. Those who brought it upon us are doomed to bare the wrath of its destruction. Nor is a corporation a 'person'. Both of these 'things' are tools; nothing more. Woe to those who have perpetrated this evil on humankind....

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 13:17 | 6147005 foghorn leghorn
foghorn leghorn's picture

This movie is like everything that you need to know about the SEC. I actually got termed of service for posting this on Yahoo Answers. I guess the powers that be didn't like the movie lol.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:23 | 6146927 Fun Facts
Fun Facts's picture

The SEC and CFTC work for Goldman.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 14:28 | 6147140 Infinite QE
Infinite QE's picture

Those are the Rothschild Inc. farm leagues.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 14:43 | 6147163 Amish Hacker
Amish Hacker's picture

OK, but don't stop there. Who does Goldman work for?

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:24 | 6146930 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

   That's what you get when you go looking for employees in the chimp cage at your local zoo...

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:27 | 6146937 CHC
CHC's picture

Really - what's the point in trying to do anything right or legal anymore?

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:30 | 6146942 foghorn leghorn
foghorn leghorn's picture

Isn't that Government Sacks lawyer?

Goldman lawyer becomes SEC chief of staff

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/05/28/268104/goldman-lawyers-becomes-sec...

Talk about corruption this is the epitome of it. Now if six pack Joe wants to sue one of the banksters for committing fraud which we all know they do this in a perpetual basis. Well now little Joe six pack has to ask Government Sacks lawyer if it is OK to sue the bankster for fraud. Oh man you know you just can't make this stuff up lol.

That is like me getting side swapped by a drunk on the road then turning around and hiring the drunk's lawyer to defend me. This is corruption on a scale that makes mini me George Bush look like a hero. If Obama isn't the biggest Wall Street sell out in the world then I don't who is.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:47 | 6146960 Terminus C
Terminus C's picture

To answer your question:

If Obama isn't the biggest Wall Street sell out in the world then I don't who is.

The next one...

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:35 | 6146950 richiebaby
richiebaby's picture

What do you expect from somebody that is the identical twin of Moe Howard?

 

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 13:34 | 6147033 HowdyDoody
HowdyDoody's picture

Some serious knocking heads together?

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:56 | 6146976 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

847328_3527;

"Regulatory Agencies" are usually "Protection Agencies" in reality.

BAR Association is Dope Ring.

Lawyers destroy laws, constitutions, integrity, and Governments.

Simplify, Streamline, and Standardize banking, accounting, laws, Court Procedures, Court Guidelines, Court Benchmarks, tax code, GAAP rules, Financial ratings, and Financial Instruments.

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 13:48 | 6147063 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

The SEC's toast always falls Zion side up.

Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 14:22 | 6147106 Salsipuedes
Salsipuedes's picture

Fortunately every SEC Chair prior to Mary Jo Lilly White Goldensacks was a paragon of selfless propriety!

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 15:48 | 6147319 MedicalQuack
MedicalQuack's picture

Same stuff working over at HHS/CMS too...more Wall Street sell outs.  Current HHS Secretary, Burwell, more of the 6 degrees of Bob Rubin as she worked for him as a director and hired a Citi lawyer to work for her.  I call it the six degrees of Bob Rubin in Healthcare.  It was funny last month as Bob Rubin said in front of the world at the Milken Conference that it's Facebook's fault that the US is so polarized, hold you sides on that one. 

http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/08/burwell-hhs-secretary-hires-legal.html

Now over to CMS, run by Andy Slavitt, a former Goldman Sachs banker and then a long time executive of United Healthcare, CEO of Ingenix, the subsidiary that everybody sued including the AMA for using algorithmic formulas for short paying doctors for 15 years, discovered by Cuomo.  United pulled a real good fast one to dupe the public who only reads headlines you could say as they moved him over to QSSI just before getting the HHS award for Healthcare.gov and other exchange websites, so like magic he's now a hero.  On top of that, all his lawsuits that are still out there and more developing, he gets full protection from HHS, an unheard of provision used.  

So we have bankers and crooks over there now.  Keep an eye open on United as they want to slip their way in the back door to become the US contracted single payer...and that's really scary.

One that just settled...in New York..

http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2015/05/medical-society-of-new-york-wins-down.html

Be ready, here comes the Optum/UHC urgent care clinics with this acquisition and their new subsidiary with raising $36 million from investors, but it's a big secret as they filed one of Mary Jo's favorites..Form D with SEC to keep that a secret.

http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2015/05/optum-clinics-holdings-new-subsidiary.html

 

 

Sat, 05/30/2015 - 17:35 | 6147580 samsara
samsara's picture

Is that a picture of Larry of the three stooges?

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