In a recent post, I mentioned the McCuistion Television Program, six part series on the financial crisis that I and several of our Bank Whistleblowers United team, (Michael Winston, William Black and I), participated in. Michael and I, along with Rashad Abdel-Khalik, PhD: Professor of International Accounting at the University of Illinois and C.R. “Rusty” Cloutier: MidSouth… [Read More]
The Elephant in the Room – Why no TBTF Prosecutions?
The elephant in the room is still why there have been no criminal prosecutions of the banks, executives and Wall Street traders who were primarily responsible for the 2008 financial crisis. There has been no obvious answer, although our Department of Justice continues to dance around the question. In his most recent article, my friend… [Read More]
Brexit: A Call for Democracy or an Act of Economic Shortsightedness?
The largest blow the British population has delivered to its establishment in modern history – was it strategic or just plain stupid? Well, that depends. This last week’s furor over Brexit has filled the news channels. In a pretty close race – 52 % Leave; 48 % Remain, with 70% voting — the British Isles… [Read More]
Chicken Little was right – “the sky IS falling”!
Remember Chicken Little and her warning, the sky is falling? I sometimes feel like a Chicken Little, with my repeated warnings that the sky is indeed falling and here’s another example. Just last week I posted about my fellow Bank Whistlebowers United colleague Michael Winston’s interview with Gretchen Morgenson on the New York Times Facebook venue. I’m still… [Read More]
The DOJ Lemon Award – Go Directly to Jail!
William K. Black, a professor of Economics and Law, UMKC, a former financial regulator and author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is To Own One, and one of our Bank Whistleblowers United (BWU) co-founders has decided we could “retire” our series of BWU Lemon Awards and permanently award “a Lemon” award to… [Read More]
Silence is Deadly. Lessons Learned.
The audience was primarily internal auditors at my presentation this week at the 11th Annual Fraud Summit, held at the University of Texas at Dallas, where I teach, sponsored by the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and Information Systems Audit and Control Association. I talked about fraud and how as… [Read More]
A Test Case for the DOJ’s New Policy?
In my last post: New DOJ Policy to Prosecute…Real or Smokescreen?, I commented that the DOJ’s new policy to go after individuals who commit financial crimes — not just settle for fines, was a step in the right direction. I also expressed some cynicism, given their track record so far. While it’s my belief that… [Read More]
New DOJ Policy to Prosecute … Real or Smokescreen?
Perhaps, finally the hue and cry to prosecute those responsible for the 2008 financial crisis is having an impact. It looks as if the Department of Justice is changing its tune. This last Wednesday, the DOJ announced a new policy to go after the individuals who have committed financial crimes. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates… [Read More]
Were Bank Settlements Really Payments of Extortion to the Department of Justice??
Congratulations are in order to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has managed to bring a case to trial against Nomura Holdings and the Royal Bank of Scotland, two foreign banks with little U.S. reputational risk. This relatively obscure agency oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Considering they have nowhere near the power of our federal regulators and prosecutors at our… [Read More]
Too Big To Fail Survey
Too Big to Fail, a U.S. television drama film was first broadcast on HBO, May 23, 2011. Based on Andrew Ross Sorkin‘s non-fiction book Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves (2009), the film received public acclaim and 11 nominations at the 63rd… [Read More]
