The SIPA

Brokers better beware of the drum beat The past two years has seen a return to somewhat normal regulations on Wall Street as Donald Trump has lifted and or modified many of the burdensome regulations strangling capital formation for much of the last 10 years. The market has responded with robust earnings, record unemployment and […]

The SIPA has been fighting for year to try and get owners of Broker Dealers what was rightfully theirs from the merger of NASD and NYSE regulation into the newly formed FINRA.  Despite many obstacles and setbacks the case has now been sent to the Supreme Court of the United States to basically decide once […]

Some where along the way the unions went from protecting workers to intimidating them as well as our Government. I never really understood this phenomenon. GM, Ford and Chrysler have had strong unions for years and years and it afforded workers solidarity and negotiating power. That was until a guy with a high school education started making $80,000 per year to run a bolt through some sheet metal.

The decision by the Trustee is puzzling on so many levels I almost do not know where to begin so In keeping with my theme from my speech last week to Broker Dealers at the Financial Services Exchange meeting in Atlanta: Follow the money!

AS WELL AS AN INCREASE IN COMMISSIONS Houston we have a problem. Perhaps no phrase has ever spoken more about a problem than these famous words from Apollo 13 years ago. One little problem turned into thousands of people working day and night to try and solve a ‘problem’ that eventually led to the safe […]

The Republicans swooped into office and now everyone is expecting huge change in Washington yet your first evidence of more of the same was the speech by minority leader John Boehner on election night. Lets be realistic, this race was fueled by the phenomenal success of the Tea Party and they are the ones who energized the campaign, yet once victory was secured in comes a 21 year congressmen with a nice suit, overly tanned and full or pats on his back when in fact he offered little or no support to tea party candidates who were running under the Republican ticket.

As I read the SEC press release on Friday charging Goldman with fraud I couldn’t help but laugh and wonder if they contacted Mario Puzo and asked for advice on how to get the swirling controversy around them to subside. The fraud charges are comical at best due to the fact that one person from Goldman was named in the SEC indictment.

Rants and raves from the SIPA C & C music factory had a whole generation of people uttering these now famous words back in the 1990’s. As we review some of the changes that are occurring right before our eyes with the financial system, its apparent that there is more confusion then ever before instead […]

Now that the figures are finally released I would like to take a moment and remind everyone that members of the original dissident group known as the Financial Industry Association (FIA) were called liars because they claimed that the merger could pay to members much more then the mere $35,000 that the NASD was offering in exchange for giving up their voting rights. In fact, the former head of NASD even said in a podcast to all members that “It just isn’t true what members of the FIA are saying”.

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Marc Antony gives the stirring eulogy that was supposed to pump up Brutus while stomping on the grave of the murdered Caesar. The opposite occurs as he delivers an impassioned speech that has the citizens mourning for the good old days of Julius Caesar’s rule. Over the years we have been a very vocal critic of FINRA policies and deservedly so in our opinion. We have even speculated that FINRA may be on the way out the door due to the failures of Wall Street’s largest firm and the Madoff debacle. Today however, we come to praise FINRA!

The SIPA has been granted unprecedented access to recently released and soon to be released Court documents that basically prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that members of then NASD were mislead and even deliberately lied to by the powers that be in order to obtain their vote.

My opponent, the FINRA Nominating Committee choice sent you a letter urging your support on firm letterhead declaring his NYSE Membership to the World. No comment of any FINRA Membership was made. Is this who he intends to represent? NYSE firms? The FINRA selection fails to understand this is a small firm NAC election. Perhaps he should be seeking a position with the NYSE where his interest obviously rests.

A judge who finally gets it right NEW YORK – A federal judge on Monday rejected a $33 million settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America Corp. over bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff called the proposed consent judgment "inadequate." Rakoff wrote in an opinion that the $33 million settlement was a "trivial penalty for a false statement that materially infected a multi-billion-dollar merger."

Previously, we here at The SIPA have questioned the investment losses of FINRA and wondered out loud if they may have invested in Madoff….well we could be about to find out.  A lawsuit has been filed against FINRA by a member firm that alleges conflict of interest as well as demands the books of FINRA […]

Wasting Away Again In Regulatorville… Another day, another new Regulator or Czar appointed by the government.  The latest creation is the new and improved super regulator that will over see the SEC and FINRA as well as the institutions themselves.  Before we get into this latest and greatest Regulatory overhaul, I think is important to […]

Today the Treasury Secretary began outlining his vision of a new Regulatory structure to replace the old one. This new system will save us all from another catastrophic meltdown in our financial system and make sure corruption and greed is caught early on. The SIPA response? Yadee Yadee Yadee… With all due respect, why create […]

How To Insult The American Public With A Smile On Your Face Today the SEC Chairman Christopher proclaimed that “ The SEC Failed to Investigate and Probe Madoff”.  (Click here to read story). While this might sound to some of you as a small act of contrition and public acknowledgement of his agency’s failings, this […]

The Fall of Madoff should come as no surprise. For many years now we have always thought of Ponzi schemes as something that was run out of boiler rooms in Long Island and Boca Raton that would prey on the elderly and unknowledgeable.  Today the FBI has announced that one of the most respected names […]

In several articles earlier this year, we broached the unthinkable: that the End Of FINRA was potentially at hand. Since then, we have seen much in the way of de-facto re-organization, with the Bulge Bracket firms – such as they still exist – coming under direct control of the Treasury. Ironically, what this means is […]

Over a year ago many of you who receive the BDExchange newsletter may recall I speculated that 3 of the 5 top firms on the street were underwater and even went so far as to say that I truly Believe Bear Stearns and Citibank may in fact be under water.  In November of 2007 I […]

Breaking News: For Immediate Release  GOVERNMENT CONSIDERING LEGISLATION TO BAN ALL SELLING OF STOCKS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE:  The Federal government has announced plans to prohibit individuals and institutions from selling their stock until further notice.  “This ban on selling stocks and only allowing buy orders should result in a higher stock market by years end” […]

In the midst of perhaps the greatest collapse in Wall Street history, FINRA is hard at work not protecting American Investors across the country, but instead is working behind the scenes to once again consolidate even more power away from small firms and place it in the hands of a few.  The SEC is currently […]

Wall Street’s Fed Addiction The recent events on Wall Street prove once again that the Fed is nothing more then an enabler to Wall Streets addiction for constant intervention.  This ‘business as usual’ attitude is a risky and reckless bet that has not worked and in my humble opinion will not work anytime soon.  Lets […]

Now is the time to act if you’re a Brokerage firm or Financial professional in America. We would like to hear your thoughts and opinions and present them to the House Banking Committee. Wall Street’s elite firms have run aground and now the Federal Government wants to bail them out. For many years, many have […]

Today is a very sad day on Wall Street. Lehman Brothers (LEH) has declared Bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch ( MER) has been bailed out in a fire sale to Bank of America. Two of the most well known names in Wall Street history have flamed out within a matter of moments and American investors have been shaken to their core. How could this all happen so quickly and how in the world did these two titans of Wall Street get into this mess to begin with

The Demise of Wall Street's elite firms could reshape Regulation. The sudden and shocking demise of the Wall Street elite has left an industry in shambles and the American investor in jitters. The collapse of the largest names on Wall Street is being felt all across the world and has caused the Political landscape to suddenly pay more attention to the Economy and less attention to Governor Palin's "my space page". President Bush cancelled his fund raising campaign drive and Barrack Obama is already running commercials blaming the Republicans, while lost in all this is John McCain's suggestion that "Chairman Cox should be fired for betraying the public trust and falling asleep at the wheel"