The SEC allows top firms to choose the lawyer who will be investigating them

source www.courthousenews.com...

If you can excuse the founding of the SEC by Joe Kennedy (after being snubbed by JP Morgan) it cleaned up the unethical scandalous dog eat dog behavior of Wall Street (read the book Once in Golconda).

Today it is not even a paper tiger. It's main function today appears to be covering up for the crooks.

I agree with this method. I want to appoint my cousin to be the judge for my next traffic ticket. He's a stand up guy, honest.

They don't staff the SEC from the top down with people from the institutions likely to be investigated for nothing!

The SEC is, by design, there to cover up the wrongdoings of the big players. Sure, they will do investigations, but only the small players. The big players also get to just pay a fine, without ever admitting guilt, and then it's on to the next scam. Nobody goes to jail, the fine will be a fraction of the profit the scam brought in... it's a winner for all concerned and cause for much celebration at the club!

When governments get to start subverting or ignoring the rule of law for political or corporate gain, then that surely constitutes a dictatorship. Reminds me of Tony Bliar ordering the serious fraud office to quash their investigation of British Aerospace over all the bribes and backhanders paid out.
In the corporate world, I get to sit through training modules every year pointing out the law and how we are expected to act with integrity, yet I see day in and day out the politicians and big corporate players breaking every rule I am expected to adhere to.

That's the problem with having a politicized police and judicial system, with the senior guys having the power to suspend the rule of law when it suits them.