The SIPA

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 [...]

Why Madoff will not be an isolated case Over a year ago we questioned whether there was sufficient regulation of the Hedge Fund industry (click here to read).  In light of the Madoff Meltdown the important question brokers must be asking themselves now is not IF more regulation is necessary, but should one remove one’s clients’ [...]

Bernard Madoff. The ultimate zinger. Just say the words: Bernard Madoff -the whole room goes deathly silent. What can one say? What the hell was he thinking? At a moment when the entire world is looking for a reason to trust the US financial system, in rides Bernie Madoff. Former Chairman of the Nasdaq. Treasurer [...]

“Gold, Schmold – Who cares, you can’t take it with you.” It’s no secret that the layoffs have begun in earnest at broker dealers, advisories, hedge funds, etc. With over 1,000,000 jibs lost in the US this year, wall street has been hit with a disproportionate number of layoffs – some 100,000 announced in the [...]

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 [...]

The cost of corruption by our Government and the prospects for the future. On September 29th 2008 Citibank announced they were buying Wachovia Bank for a whopping $1.00 and that the Federal Government (FDIC) would provide them with up to 300 BILLION in bad debt protection. (cnn article here) The announcement caught this writer by [...]

My how things have changed. Goldman announced today that it is “mulling over” the idea of creating an Internet bank. Unsatisfied with investment capital alone, the humble folks at GS now want access to the everday cash of tom and jane. \ “This move is pretty much the polar opposite of what you think about [...]

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 [...]

On November 15, leaders of 20 nations will convene to create a framework for stabilizing and rebuilding the world financial markets. The meeting is being called Bretton Woods II, after the historic meeting that set the stage for dollar hegemony after WWII. While the meeting is set to review and determine such things as the [...]

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 [...]

Mary Shapiro, CEO of the FINRA, had this to say in a communication to Broker Dealers, in response to recent market events: “As you know, FINRA’s primary responsibilities are regulating broker-dealers and the broker-dealer subsidiary of any newly formed bank holding companies, as well as protecting customer accounts. We do not have jurisdiction over the [...]

With the ban on short expired today, the market may be in for yet another wild ride as the market expresses it’s faith in the recent bailout in dollar terms. According to an article by Kevin McCoy in USA Today, here’s how some well known folks weighed in: Richard Baker, president of the Managed Funds [...]

So it looks like come hell or highwater, this bill is gonna pass see bill here today. Okay, so where does that leave us? Better than Monday, i should think. Some of the more offensive parts of the bill were removed, and plenty O’ Pork was thrown in to incentivize. All can claim Victory. And [...]

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 [...]

There’s no place like home… Truly the unimaginable has happened. The Fed has spent a trillion dollars in bailouts in the last week alone, and wall streets’ Wizards decisionmaking has been exposed as bankrupt and full of artifice,  and the old regulatory matrix may be headed the way of the dodo. But what does this mean to [...]

by The SIPA Opinion The recent release by FINRA  to allow an all public arbitration system is apparently either the last step to allow the hounds known as the Bar association to completely conquer the brokerage industry or a last ditch effort by FINRA and the largest firms on the street to avoid some of [...]

LET BROKERS AND FINANCIAL ADVISORS  DO THEIR JOBS There has been a lot of chatter lately regarding mutual funds and the fees associated with them.  Quite frankly, this is nothing new and for years the industry regulators have questioned all the various shares of mutual funds sold and whether customers would have been better served [...]

FINRA has notified its members of a special election to fill the vacant seat on the FINRA board of Governors.  While the SIPA does not wish to engage in an active election campaign, we would like to put forth a notion that has been oddly missing from the Board of Governors since its inception:  Who is representing [...]