Rakoff accuses SEC of misleading federal court. FHFA Complaints: Can Control Frauds Recover for Being Defrauded by other Control Frauds? Bill Black is an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC).
He was the Executive Director of the Institute for Fraud Prevention from 2005-2007. He has taught previously at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and at Santa Clara University, where he was also the distinguished scholar in residence for insurance law and a visiting scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Reading the FHFA complaints against many of the world’s largest banks is a fascinating and troubling process for anyone that understands “accounting control fraud.”
The FHFA, a federal regulatory agency, sued in its capacity as conservator for Fannie and Freddie. Its complaints are primarily based on fraud. The FHFA complaints are distressing, however, in their failure to explain why the frauds occurred and how an accounting control fraud works. “True alpha can only be measured in the long run …. Is the SEC Covering Up Wall Street Crimes? The Spoilsmen: How Congress Corrupted Patent Reform. WASHINGTON -- After months of dead-end negotiations over raising the federal debt ceiling, President Barack Obama walked into the East Room of the White House on June 29 to demand action.
The stalled talks not only threatened the integrity of the nation's debt, he said, they reflected a lack of purpose about solving economic problems and improving the plight of middle-class families. "Many people are still looking for work or looking for a job that pays more," Obama said to a scrum of reporters. "There are more steps that we can take right now that would help businesses create jobs here in America. " The first item on Obama's list of immediate, job-creating congressional actions was the passage of patent reform legislation.
"Right now, Congress can send me a bill that would make it easier for entrepreneurs to patent a new product or idea, because we can't give innovators in other countries a big leg up when it comes to opening new businesses and creating new jobs," he said. Efforts to Pretend “50 State” Attorney General Deal Moving Forward Looking More Desperate.
For months, it has looked as if Iowa state attorney general Tom Miller and the Department of Justice have been effectively negotiating on behalf of the banks to try to secure a broad settlement to give the banks a talking point and create the perception that the mortgage mess is on the mend.
In fact, it would not stop the train wreck in local courts, since a deal would not restrict the rights of borrowers. However, getting the AGs out of the equation would still be of benefit to the banks, since their investigations typically unearth information that assist private litigants. But we have long thought that the settlement talks have been a weird PR exercise, in that if the talks were perceived to be getting momentum, they’d actually get momentum. But with no damaging findings from investigations to pressure the banks to the table, the only thing the AG group has to offer is a very broad release, and we’ve heard repeatedly that a lot of AGs regard that as problematic. This Is Considered Punishment?