According to The New York Times reporter Gretchen Morgenson, several Wall Street firms have engaged in a long-standing practice of giving their largest investors sneak peaks into analysis and other projections relating to publicly traded companies. Although such actions are prohibited by Federal regulations, it appears many firms maintain close relationships with large hedge fund investors by sneaking them otherwise "secret" information, allowing them to get a jump on investment deals ordinary investors would never benefit from. The Securities and Exchange Commission review of this practice came to light as a result of the initial public offering of Facebook, where many large investors made huge profits from the quick purchasing and sale of the initial offering, at the detriment of the smaller investors who bought and immediately faced holding shares of a stock of diminishing market value.
According to the documents obtained by the Times from the SEC, it appears large hedge fund companies routinely submitted questionnaires to Wall Street firms about certain companies' revenue projections, potential for takeovers or acquisitions, and more importantly, brokerage firm buy or sell recommendations, all ahead of any disclosure to the ordinary investor public. Naturally, all of the firms involved, including Citigroup, UBS, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Blackrock and others have denied involvement or made no comment about any of these actions. The SEC investigation is ongoing.
Now I know many will say the Times is a liberal newspaper and is biased and you "can't believe everything you read" prattle. But isn't it at least nice to know our Federal government is keeping an eye on potential unlawful behavior by some of the largest financial players in the World, especially in light of their most recent abysmal track record? It never ceases to amaze me when politicians convince Americans that Wall Street is "over-regulated" and that such regulation leads to "a destruction of the Free Markets." What's "free" about them if the big boys play by a different set of rules, which ultimately comes back to hurt small investors caught in their web of stock manipulation or the rest of us when these firm get caught and claim they are "Too Big To Fail." Are they too big to fail, or are they too big to care?
According to the documents obtained by the Times from the SEC, it appears large hedge fund companies routinely submitted questionnaires to Wall Street firms about certain companies' revenue projections, potential for takeovers or acquisitions, and more importantly, brokerage firm buy or sell recommendations, all ahead of any disclosure to the ordinary investor public. Naturally, all of the firms involved, including Citigroup, UBS, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Blackrock and others have denied involvement or made no comment about any of these actions. The SEC investigation is ongoing.
Now I know many will say the Times is a liberal newspaper and is biased and you "can't believe everything you read" prattle. But isn't it at least nice to know our Federal government is keeping an eye on potential unlawful behavior by some of the largest financial players in the World, especially in light of their most recent abysmal track record? It never ceases to amaze me when politicians convince Americans that Wall Street is "over-regulated" and that such regulation leads to "a destruction of the Free Markets." What's "free" about them if the big boys play by a different set of rules, which ultimately comes back to hurt small investors caught in their web of stock manipulation or the rest of us when these firm get caught and claim they are "Too Big To Fail." Are they too big to fail, or are they too big to care?
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