Article: Cox’s SEC Censors Report on Bear Stearns Collapse

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Cox’s SEC Censors Report on Bear Stearns Collapse

Mark Pittman, Elliot Blair Smith, Jesse Westbrook

Bloomberg cited by RGM Communications via Wayback, 7 October 2008

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox’s regulators stood by as shrinking capital ratios and growing subprime holdings led to the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos., according to an unedited version of a study by the agency’s inspector general.

The report, by Inspector General H. David Kotz, was requested by Senator Charles Grassley to examine the role of regulators prior to the firm’s collapse in March. Before it was released to the public on Sept. 26, Kotz deleted 136 references, many detailing SEC memos, meetings or comments, at the request of the agency’s Division of Trading and Markets that oversees investment banks.

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Article: The ‘Phantom Shares’ Menace

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The ‘Phantom Shares’ Menace

John W. Welborn

Securities & Exchange,  24 April 2008

In 1985, the National Association of Securities Dealers (nasd) commissioned Irving M. Pollack, a securities law expert and former Securities and Exchange commissioner, to conduct a comprehensive review of short selling in nasdaq securities. The nasd sought to determine what, if any, additional short selling regulation was needed for the nasdaq market. The result was the now-famous “Pollack Study,” which described the short selling landscape of the day and made important recommendations regarding the disclosure, reporting, and settlement of short sales.

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Article: S.E.C. Inquiry on Hedge Fund Draws Scrutiny

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S.E.C. Inquiry on Hedge Fund Draws Scrutiny

Walt Bogdanich, Gretchen Morgenson

New York Times, 22 October 2006

By the evening of June 20, 2005, the government’s investigation of possible insider trading by Pequot Capital Management, a prominent hedge fund, had reached a critical stage.

Throughout the day, Robert Hanson, a branch chief in the Washington office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, had been questioning his lead investigator in the case about taking the testimony of John J. Mack, an influential Wall Street executive.

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Article: Lawsuits Accuse “Prime Brokers” of Securities Fraud

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Lawsuits Accuse “Prime Brokers” of Securities Fraud

Wayne Jett

San Gabriel Valley Tribune cited by RGM Communications via Wayback, 19 July 2006

Two class-action lawsuits filed in Manhattan federal court in April allege fraud by the world’s largest “prime brokers” in securities lending practices.

Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Banc of America Securities, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, UBS Financial and Bank of New York allegedly charge high fees to lend securities for short selling, but fail to deliver the securities sold short by hedge funds.

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Article: Hedge Hogs

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Hedge Hogs

Liz Moyer

Forbes, 28 June 2006

So who should be overseeing the $1.2 trillion hedge fund industry? Apparently no one is now. But the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has two ideas.

Either the nation needs new legislation to tackle allegations of widespread trading abuses by the hedge funds, or law enforcement officials should simply be encouraged to do the right thing with laws they already have at their disposal?

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