The NCANS comment letter on the market maker exemption is now live at the SEC site. It's pretty simple in concept - the SEC shouldn't be exempting activity that actively harms investors and is contrary to the public interest, shouldn't be encouraging trafficking in unregistered securities, nor should it be giving a hall pass to market makers to ignore at least 4 sections of the Securities Acts.
Special thanks to Tommytoyz for driving this effort, and to Mary Helburn for her unflagging work on behalf of investors.
NCANS is going to be incorporated into this site over the next few weeks, as this site is the de facto hub now for issues NCANS is grappling with.
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The GAO issued a report that basically says that 80% of the billions collected from Wall Street (or at least that Wall Street was fined - we have no idea how much, if any, was actually paid) haven't made it to those who suffered the harm at the hands of the bad guys. What a surprise. Also, it concluded that the SEC launches investigations, then leaves them open for harmful durations, which largely aids anyone short those stocks, and harms the companies and investors therein. See a pattern here? And yet, after report after report shows the SEC is at best completely incompetent, and at worst a tool of Wall Street's worst elements, nobody is calling for heads on a platter or for the elimination of the agency. If this were the group responsible for air traffic control, planes would be colliding every few hours and the nation's infrastructure would be a wreck, however apparently our market system can handle that sort of thing as part of a day's work. Anyone that doesn't believe the SEC is as crooked as Lindsay Lohan's walk during a sobriety stop needs to get their head examined.
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Famed litigator and relentless persecutor of companies targeted by some of the larger NY-based short selling cartels Bill Lerach is pleading guilty to being a lowlife scumbag. All news relating to that is being buried as far back in the non-news sections of the papers as humanly possible.
Just another week of sifting through the most badly corrupted market system and regulatory network I've ever seen. Makes me want to take a shower after writing about it.