"On the one hand, it's pretty clear-cut: SEC disclosures are supposed to be accurate."

[Coexist]

NPR weighs in with a fairly balanced piece that still lets us know... that ain't quite right.

"If you knowingly make a false statement in a regulatory filing, it's a crime," says John Olson, a securities attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and founding partner of the firm's Washington office.

That said, several securities lawyers we spoke with (most of whom didn't want to comment publicly on a political topic) noted that these filings are often put together by some pretty junior employees. It's conceivable that someone copied and pasted from a previous filing and forgot to update some parts. But barring that, if someone is named as chief executive in an SEC filing, he or she should be CEO.

It goes on to suggest what a CEO does at a company is up for debate, but the real question remains.. where does the buck stop?

If Mittens becomes President, is he not responsible for what happens in his administration? While he's at Camp David?

In terms of political consequence - if this Bain scandal does nothing else, it's peaked everyone's interest in those pesky tax returns.

[geckosfeet]

1. Even if you are ceo in name only, you are still ceo.

To state otherwise is to lie. To state otherwise in an SEC filing is a felony.

If he was ceo in name only, why was that the case. There was some legal consideration, some benefit to Bain and or rMonies through the use of his name. That constitutes a functional purpose, goes beyond "name only" and implicate rMonies and Bain in a felony fraud.

[Coexist]

2. I would imagine Bain had a team of attorneys

who were perfectly capable of putting together the paperwork to transfer authority