金融危機(jī)犯罪SEC勝訴比率僅1/4
????目前只有這一宗。 ????上周四,在金融危機(jī)近五年后,美國證券交易委員會(Securities and Exchange Commission)終于證明,它有能力讓一位曾任中層交易員的30多歲研究生為金融危機(jī)的罪責(zé)承擔(dān)責(zé)任。司法正義終于得到伸張!
????但陪審團(tuán)裁定前高盛(Goldman Sachs)交易員法布雷斯?圖爾有罪一事并不足以改變SEC在控訴金融危機(jī)犯罪方面可憐的成功紀(jì)錄。在近五年時間里,這家華爾街監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)僅對6位個人提起過4宗金融危機(jī)相關(guān)的訴訟,所有這6個人相對而言都是小角色。其中,唯一一位被認(rèn)定有罪的就是圖爾。 ????“它們提起訴訟的勝訴紀(jì)錄不太漂亮,”前SEC執(zhí)法官員、德匯律師事務(wù)所(Dorsey and Whitney)合伙人托馬斯?高曼說。 ????而SEC的實(shí)際紀(jì)錄更像是1比7。這是因?yàn)榍柏悹査沟牵˙ear Stearns)對沖基金經(jīng)理拉爾夫?喬菲和馬修?坦寧在美國司法部的刑事訴訟中被判無罪后,SEC與這兩個人達(dá)成了和解。法官批準(zhǔn)了SEC的和解,但此前也表示,SEC的和解金額是“一筆小錢”。在另外一宗案件中,SEC不得不一百八十度大轉(zhuǎn)彎,要求一名法官放棄對愛德華?斯特福林提起訴訟;斯特福林為摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)建議的一款按揭債券損失慘重。為此,《紐約時報(bào)》(New York Times)撰文寫道,“如果斯特福林能夠算得上是某種標(biāo)志性的人物,那一定是監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)手伸得太長的犧牲品。” ????要知道,金融危機(jī)期間,夸大交易實(shí)際價值的人也遠(yuǎn)不止這9個人。一些私人投資者們指控,他們發(fā)現(xiàn)有電子郵件和其他證據(jù)證明,銀行家們知道他們出售給客戶的產(chǎn)品是垃圾。比如一項(xiàng)針對摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)的案件證據(jù)就顯示,銀行家們正在促成的一項(xiàng)交易根本就是“一文不值”。但是,摩根士丹利還從未向SEC支付與按揭交易相關(guān)的任何罰款。SEC最近已表示,將調(diào)查這類案件中的一部分私人案件,以確定它們是否漏掉了什么。思路不錯。 ????SEC另外還有55宗金融危機(jī)相關(guān)案件都在審理之前就達(dá)成和解,其中一些涉及巨額罰款。比如,高盛就支付了5.50億美元。但大多數(shù)和解是與公司達(dá)成的,不是個人。而且,罰款總額遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不及投資者在華爾街垃圾抵押債券上遭受的損失,以及那些曾進(jìn)行他們認(rèn)為安全的房屋按揭貸款、但最終房屋被止贖的投資者所承受的痛苦。 ????不過,圖爾案件后,SEC還是很快就額手稱慶了。SEC執(zhí)法部門聯(lián)席主管安德魯?賽熱斯內(nèi)在一份聲明中表示:“我們將持續(xù)不懈地追究那些在華爾街實(shí)施欺詐者的責(zé)任,并在必要的時候提起訴訟。” ????但5年過去了,只有一起案件判處有罪。所以,你懂的,沒什么可慶賀的。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) |
????So that's one. ????On Thursday, nearly five years after the financial crisis, the Securities and Exchange Commission proved that it was able to hold one mid-level, thirtysomething former trader-turned grad student accountable for crimes of the financial crisis. Justice served! ????But the fact that a jury found former Goldman Sachs (GS) trader Fabrice Tourre liable isn't enough to change this: The SEC's track record on prosecuting financial crisis crimes is pathetic. In nearly five years, the Wall Street regulator has brought just four court cases related to the financial crisis against a total of six individuals, all of whom were relative bit players. Of those, Tourre is the only one to be found liable. ????"Their track [record] of the cases that have gone to trial has not be very good," says Thomas Gorman, a partner at law firm Dorsey and Whitney and a former SEC enforcement official ????And the SEC's actual record is more like 1-in-7. That's because the SEC settled charges against former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin after the two were acquitted in a criminal trial brought by the Department of Justice. A judge signed off on the SEC's settlement only after calling the fine the regulator imposed "chump change." In another instance, the SEC had to do an about-face and ask a judge to drop a case it had brought against Edward Steffelin, who had advised JPMorgan Chase (JPM) on a mortgage bond that went bust. In response, the New York Times wrote that "if Mr. Steffelin is going to emerge as a 'poster child' for anything, it will be as a victim of regulatory overreach." ????And we know there were far more than nine people who made deals during the financial crisis that were less than they seemed. Private investors have brought cases that have uncovered e-mails and other evidence that prove bankers knew they were selling clients garbage, like the one against Morgan Stanley (MS) in which its bankers suggested a deal they were putting together be called "shitbag." Yet, Morgan Stanley had never paid a fine to the SEC related to a mortgage deal. The SEC has recently said it will take a look at some of these private cases to see if there is anything they missed. Good thinking. ????The SEC has brought 55 other financial crisis related cases that were settled before they went to trial, in some instances for big fines. Goldman, for one, paid $550 million. But most of the settlements were with companies, not individuals. And the total amount comes nowhere near to what investors actually lost on Wall Street's crappy mortgage bonds, or the pain suffered by the people who got a mortgage funded by these Wall Street deals that they believed was safe but ended in foreclosure. ????Nevertheless, the SEC was quick to take a victory lap after the Tourre result. Andrew Ceresney, co-director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said in a statement, "We will continue to vigorously seek to hold accountable, and bring to trial when necessary, those who commit fraud on Wall Street." ????But it's five years, and it's one. So, you know, hold the champagne. |