A press release from Congressman Randy Hultgren:
How to stop the next Bernie Madoff–The Guardian op-ed
Financial regulators are stuck using 1930s technology to fight 21st century problems, argues Congressman Randy Hultgren (IL-14) today in The Guardian.
If regulators fail to update compliance data to searchable, open formats (instead of cumbersome PDFs, for example), our ability to detect financial crime will continue to be curtailed, and it will harm markets, investors and transparency.
This data standardization is already happening in Australia, the Netherlands, the UK, and elsewhere. The United States must catch up by passing the bipartisan Financial Transparency Act, argues Hultgren:
How to stop the next Bernie Madoff
Randy Hultgren
During the fallout of the Madoff Ponzi scheme, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s inspector general issued a scathing report on why the agency failed to detect the massive fraud.
One of its most damning findings was that multiple SEC offices simultaneously scrutinized Madoff without even realizing it.
From 1992 to 2008, the SEC received at least six complaints about Madoff’s firm that should have outed his fraud.
The agency conducted two investigations and three examinations over the years.
But the left hand didn’t know what the right was doing.
At one point, according to the inspector general, two examinations “were open at the same time in different offices without either knowing the other one was conducting an identical examination.”
Madoff slipped through the cracks, and Americans lost billions of dollars.
This fraudster was able to fool financial regulators because they are still using 1930s pen and paper technology to handle today’s digital challenges.
This hurts investors, markets and the regulators’ own missions.
And that’s why, along with some 34 other members of the House of Representatives, I am sponsor of the Financial Transparency Act, HR 2477.
For the most part, the major regulators collect information as plain‐text documents, rather than searchable, open data. Many of these documents date back to post-stock market crash compliance regulations passed during the Great Depression…
READ THE REST: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/16/how-to-stop-the-next-bernie-madoff
SEARCHABLE!
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Office of Investigations
Investigation of Failure of the SEC to Uncover Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme
Public Version
August 31, 2009
Report No. OIG-509
H. David Kotz, Inspector General
477 Pages
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Note this report from the SEC, like millions of other documents from Federal government agencies, is searchable pdf format, the text of which can be copy and pasted to consolidate information to another document.
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Obviously financial data should be available in a format that can be loaded to a spreadsheet or database.
That is the point made by US Representative Hultgren.
A bunch of numbers in a pdf is not practical for number crunching analysis.
and here’s Mark again, long,long Mark
Voter sounds a bit jealous.
But that aside, why don’t we concentrate on stopping the
Madigan/Clinton DEMOCRAT machine since they are a much greater threat
to the future well being of our citizenry and country at this time.
Lighten up Honest Abe.
Just a little humor which you are turning into negativity.
I like Marks comments and have said so on this blog even to the point where he should debate Franks.
When Randy sends in legislation for a balanced budget amendment, with a flat tax, no deductions till the debt is paid off, he’s just blowing smoke like most politicians.
Fiscally responsible Republican, really?