MUST-READ: (Not Mine, I Swear) Judge Rakoff Delivers Brutal Takedown Of Both The SEC And Citigroup

[WillyT]

MUST-READ: Judge Rakoff Delivers Brutal Takedown Of Both The SEC And Citigroup
Linette Lopez | BusinessInsider
Nov. 28, 2011, 1:32 PM



<snip>

For the SEC and Citigroup, this case should have been a walk in the park. The SEC charged Citigroup with misleading investors about the quality of mortgage backed security CDOs it was selling. Investors lost $700 million. But the details of the case aren't what makes this decision strange. It's how the case will be handled that has now become strange.

These kinds of cases are usually ended with a settlement where the bank gets to neither confirm nor deny its guilt in the matter. The SEC then gets to say justice was served, and the bank gets a slap on the wrist because, technically, they weren't ruled guilty anyway. In this case, that slap was $285 million.

But Judge Jed Rakoff is tired of banks and the SEC reaching settlements that are "neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate, nor in the public interest." Last week he rejected the $285 million fine, and this week he handed down the decision that explains why.

The short reason is that he's fighting mad, and thinks that these settlements sacrifice the truth and facts so that banks and the SEC can continue business as usual. All of this happens at the expense of the public. Here are the best quotes (from his decision) to show it. You can read the full decision here: http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/cases/show.php?db=special&id=138

First he takes aim at the SEC working in the interest of banks:

<snip>

More... Deliciously More: http://www.businessinsider.com/must-read-judge-rakoff-delivers-brutal-takedown-of-both-the-sec-and-citigroup-2011-11

Full Decision Here: http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/cases/show.php?db=special&id=138

:bounce:

:toast:

:hi:

:kick:

[msongs]

1. he may end up "droned" nt

[WillyT]

2. Thank You Judge Rakoff !!!

:yourock:

:toast:

Bottom line (to Rakoff) this settlement offers no facts, and no truth to the public:

"Finally, in any case like this that touches on the transparency of financial markets whose gyrations have so depressed our economy and debilitated our lives, there is an overriding public interest in knowing the truth. In much of the world, propaganda reigns, and truth is confined to secretive, fearful whispers. Even in our nation, apologists for suppressing or obscuring the truth may always be found. But the S.E.C., of all agencies, has a duty, inherent in its statutory mission, to see that the truth emerges; and if it fails to do so, this Court must not, in the name of deference or convenience, grant judicial enforcement to the agency's contrivances."

From the same piece.

[enough]

3. Rakoff is devastatingly eloquent in the decision.

snip>

An application of judicial power that does not rest on facts is worse than mindless, it is inherently dangerous. The injunctive power of the judiciary is not a free roving remedy to be invoked at the whim of a regulatory agency, even with the consent of the regulated. If its deployment does not rest on facts – cold, hard, solid facts, established either by admissions or by trials - it serves no lawful or moral purpose and is simply an engine of oppression.

snip>

[WillyT]

4. Yes...

:bounce:

:hi:

[rhett o rick]

5. Bravo. Wish we could send him flowers. nm

[WillyT]

6. We Should !!! - Who's The DU Florist Anyway ???

:shrug:

:D

:hi:

[Huey P. Long]

7. kr

[DCKit]

8. So the gentlemans agreement between Wall St. and the SEC...

where fines and penalties levied by the courts as a cost of doing business are no longer good enough? That's just not fair!!!!

Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!

[WillyT]

9. Yep...

:hi:

:kick:

[WillyT]

10. Kick !!!

:kick: