- The first case that comes to my mind
is the Bernie Madoff matter,
which was very unfortunate.
It involved defrauding hundreds
of investors of millions
and millions of dollars.
I do believe law enforcement
did everything they could do
with the laws on the books
and enforcement of those laws.
I also believe that the
individual plaintiffs
did everything they could do, as well,
to recover as much of
their losses as possible.
It was unfortunate because, ultimately,
there wasn't much left and there was
a bankruptcy involved, as well.
I think, given those circumstances,
and the egregiousness of that matter,
it was the best outcome
that could have been had,
under those circumstances.
The other case that comes
to mind is the Enron matter.
Enron was a different example than
the Bernie Madoff case because it was
a different type of breach of trust.
And, to me, that's what all of these
securities fraud cases that
are out there represent,
are different breaches of trust.
Enron was more of a systemic,
corporate conglomerate
that was built on false pretenses
and misrepresentations
of what their value was.
Unfortunately, a lot of investors
were wiped out in that action, as well.
I think, if there was
a mechanism for the SEC
to handle consumer
complaints and enforcement
of those complaints in
a way that benefited
the consumer, that would be better.
The SEC, right now, does its own thing.
It chooses what laws and
what rules and regulations
to enforce and I think
that can be problematic
because you may have some
individual consumer actions
that would only be addressed
by the courts or filing a lawsuit.
Litigation is time-consuming,
it's expensive, and unpredictable.
I do think the SEC does a good job
based upon its limitations
and its manpower and its limited budget.
Unfortunately, it can't scrutinize
every transaction out there.
There are hundreds of
thousands of transactions
in a given year, if not millions,
so it can only do so much at a time.
I think where they are now is interesting
because, obviously,
there's a big political
shift in the role of the SEC
and regulation, generally.
I think, given that climate, they're doing
the absolute best job that they can.
