Courtesy of Larry Doyle.
James Kidney recently retired from the SEC. He skewered the commission’s culture and management on the way out the door.
For those who care to understand how Wall Street has gotten away with incredibly egregious offenses over the years, Kidney’s brief remarks are well worth the few minutes to review. The highlights include:
1. The revolving door is a very serious problem. I have had bosses, and bosses of my bosses, whose names we all know, who made little secret that they were here to punch their ticket. They mouthed serious regard for the mission of the Commission, but their actions were tentative and fearful in many instances.
2. . . . an agency that polices the broken windows on the street level and rarely goes to the penthouse floors. On the rare occasions when Enforcement does go to the penthouse, good manners are paramount. Tough enforcement – risky enforcement – is subject to extensive negotiation and weakening.
3. . . . we are at most a tollbooth on the bankster turnpike. We are a cost, not a serious expense.
4. The system is broken.
I hope people might keep a mental image of the heads of the SEC and its Enforcement Division in your mind while reading this. Please click on the image below to open up a pdf of Kidney’s retirement speech.
Can you say, “SEC: asleep, incompetent, captured and corrupted” five times fast?
Navigate accordingly.
