SEC Chair Asked If He Deserves Blame For Wall Street Crisis: ‘Absolutely Not,’ It ‘Wasn’t The SEC’s Job’
SEC Chair Asked If He Deserves Blame For Wall Street Crisis: ‘Absolutely Not,’ It ‘Wasn’t The SEC’s Job’
In a new interview with the Washington Post, embattled Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox stridently “defend[ed] his restrained approach to the financial crisis.” He refused to accept any blame for the Wall Street crisis or the Madoff Ponzi scheme, saying that regulating Wall Street and protecting investors “wasn’t the SEC’s job“:
Cox argued that the agency has carefully defined responsibilities and that it was unfair to blame it for every problem on Wall Street.
“The public might not understand that that wasn’t the SEC’s job,” he said, adding that the agency was not responsible for preventing investment banks from collapsing but rather for sheltering their securities trading units from problems in the broader corporation. “The SEC is not a safety and soundness regulator,” he said. [..]
In fact, the SEC’s mission statement clearly suggests that “safety” is — or should be — a primary concern of the commission:
The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.
A review by the SEC inspector general “determined the agency’s monitoring of the five biggest Wall Street firms, which included Bear Stearns, was lacking.” (Just a few days before Bear Stearns collapsed, Cox said he had “a good deal of comfort” in the bank’s capital levels.) Another analysis showed that the SEC dramatically cut its oversight of financial trades. “In one of its core areas — regulation of Wall Street firms — its case load was down significantly,” said Ben A. Indek, a securities lawyer at the law firm that performed the analysis.
Cox also denied any culpability in the Madoff scandal: “When Cox was asked whether he should be blamed for a culture of lax enforcement that allowed multiple warnings about the fraud to go undetected, he said: ‘Absolutely not.’” However, a former SEC official slammed Cox for failing to prevent the Ponzi scheme: “I can’t comprehend how a well-run investigation would have missed a fraud of this magnitude,” said Lynn Turner, a former SEC chief accountant.
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47 Responses to “SEC Chair Asked If He Deserves Blame For Wall Street Crisis: ‘Absolutely Not,’ It ‘Wasn’t The SEC’s Job’”
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Of course its not his job to prevent the criminal cabal behind the current administration from gaming the system and looting the public.
His job is to enable it all.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:10 amHeckuva job, Dubya. Heckuva job
December 24th, 2008 at 9:12 am“The public might not understand that that wasn’t the SEC’s job,”
Geebus, do any of the f-ckwits that were appointed by Bush ever do their job, or even understand what their appointed jobs were?
This is just like everything else with the Bush Maladministration, no responsibility for anything. Everything is someone else's fault (Clinton did it, the Democrats did it!!). Its like everyone that got appointed by Bush decided to pillage and plunder, anything except the jobs they were supposed to do.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:20 amThat's why it has the really funny sounding peculiar title of "Securities Exchange Commission"
December 24th, 2008 at 9:23 amTake that buck, and pass it along!
I say fire them all.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:24 amJust like almost everyone in the Bush administration, he's making up his job description to fit what makes him look safe and not responsible!
December 24th, 2008 at 9:25 amTry to imagine what the world would be like if everyone did their jobs the way they do.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:25 amFolks - dur chimperor's folks, and the smirking chimp himself ARE doing their jobs.
None of this crminality is about COMPENTENCE. If someone breaks into your home and steals your stuff, and gets away with it - THEY ARE VERY GOOD CROOKS.
We will never see justice as long as some want to make this about whether people do their job, competence, or various personal defects - all of these are distractions.
The folks in front of the cameras don't run the whole show, they are not the real problem, and the criminals that have looted BILLIONS AND BILLIONS while the chimp is in the White House are laughing all the way to the bank.
And they are laughing AT US, not with us.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:27 amvinylspear Says:
Try to imagine what the world would be like if everyone did their jobs the way they do.
In that world, humans would be extinct and cockroaches would be pondering if there was intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:31 amWhen these guys think "the buck stops here" they take that literally, as in "the money stays in my pocket", rather than figuratively, as in "the responsibility is mine".
December 24th, 2008 at 9:35 amLook, Cox went to all the cocktail parties with lobbyists, collected his paycheck, went golfing, went on nice vacations - uh, information gathering junkets and overlooked any important issues. What else was he supposed to do?
December 24th, 2008 at 9:39 amHe was merely following orders, just like the other Republican Nazis.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:39 amHelp Wanted: Chair of SEC. Strong sense of responsibility not required?
December 24th, 2008 at 9:45 amSomewhere, John McCain is smiling and saying "I told you this guy had to go!"
December 24th, 2008 at 9:50 amI fully expect Obama to investigate and prosecute to the fullest extent the goons like Cox (and Bush, and Cheney, and Condi, and Rummy, and Ashcroft...) who have destroyed our country - and now our economy.
Capitalism is dead. Obama needs to understand that.
http://www.sunstateactivist.org/ssablog/
December 24th, 2008 at 10:01 amIt looks like another one of Bush's buddies needs to put down the Bible and start reading the mission statement of the agency he is in charge of.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:01 amTo: chocko33
December 24th, 2008 at 10:03 amMcCain also said "the fundamentals of the economy are strong."
The only problem with McGrampa's rant is that the president cannot fire the SEC chair.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:07 amEight years of Bush and Cheney stealing every taxpayer dollar they could lay their hands on. All that's left in the U.S. Treasury is a $20 trillion IOU.
The saddest part is that Bush, Cheney, and all his crooked friends are going to get away with it. There is no justice in America. There is no law enforcement. Prisons were were built to punish the poor and working class only.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:21 amWhy, of course it's not his fault!! The dog ate his homework 40 years ago.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:23 amWas it not always obvious that this result could be reasonably extrapolated from the appointment of Representative Cox to head the Securities and Exchange Commission? This was a move that have not only Wall Street executives, but the likes like of the US Chamber of Commerce and such reactionary characters like Grover Norquist dancing in the streets.
'Real' deregulation— laissez faire capitalism, really—was coming to the markets, which would (of course) 'self regulate' to prevent the emergence of abuses.
Well, we've all seen how that worked out. Rather like the deregulation of the electrical utilities industry, another cause championed by the same cast of characters.
And now, Chairmen Cox muses thoughtfully on the failure, wondering how such an outcome might possibly have occurred, deflecting any personal responsibility and—by inference—blaming his 'apparently ineffective' staff for failing to have foreseen this calamity. It's always been about accountability and enforcement, and under the 'leadership' of Chairman Cox, every possible barrier has been tossed in the way of both.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:27 amResponsibility = "response" "ability", that is having the ability to respond in a given situation. So, did members of the SEC (OK, the whole friggin' Bush Administration) either had no ability or no desire to respond to ANY of the challenges before this country for 8 years. Which is it?
December 24th, 2008 at 10:28 amThe mission of the entire Bushevik regime has always been to privatize everything in view, and to undermine--if they couldn't actzually destroy--any and every institution or instrument of democratic self-government by which the People might resist or roll back this privatizing colonization.
De-regulation was one of the primary tools of this strategy. Every Bushevik "regulator" cleaved to that orthodoxy.
Mission: Accomplished
December 24th, 2008 at 10:39 amRoast in HELL Bush spawn !!!
December 24th, 2008 at 10:41 amRight. It's not my job to do my job.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:51 amI wonder what his salary is, and how many family members are on the 'payroll'.
chucko33 Says:
Somewhere, John McCain is smiling and saying “I told you this guy had to go!”
___________
Funny... Sarah Palin said the same thing.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:57 amSomewhere, John McCain is smiling and saying “I told you this guy had to go!”
Except John was referring to "go to the bathroom". When you get older you think a lot more about prostate issues.
December 24th, 2008 at 11:07 amWingnut M.O. regarding accountability:
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT! WHERE'S MY PROMOTION AND RAISE DAMNIT?"
I'm still waiting for somebody, hell anybody from Shrub's retarded cabinet to apologize for fcuking up on 9/11 so dearly...
Not on a Repukes watch, no way in hell.
December 24th, 2008 at 11:11 amSomewhere, John McCain is smiling and saying “I told you this guy had to go!”
Was that before or after he stated the following regarding his reprimand by the Senate Ethics Committee regarding the Keating 5: "It's a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators, because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do."
December 24th, 2008 at 11:17 amWell, he sure did a good job at "protecting investors" didn't he? Is there a Republican on this planet who can take responsibility for their actions? Being a hypocrite is number one on the list of qualifications to be a Republican, number 2 is a total inability to take responsibility for your actions.
December 24th, 2008 at 11:40 amDr. Hussein Matt Says:
The only problem with McGrampa’s rant is that the president cannot fire the SEC chair.
Who can fire him?
December 24th, 2008 at 11:43 amI am constantly amazed at the posts that say that w and his admin were incompetent and stupid. Look at it realistically: w got everything that he wanted. He wanted to drive the government into bankruptcy, he wanted to enrich his have and have-more base, he wanted to pack the SCOTUS with as many wingers as he could, he wanted to break the military so that mercenaries became a real alternative, and he wanted to destabilize the world as much as possible to allow for unending war. I could even add to that list, but you see where I'm going. I would say that his eight years really did make his administration reach MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
December 24th, 2008 at 11:49 amHe's absolutely right: the public doesn't understand. I also don't understand what he thinks the SEC's job is. Wearing fancy double-breasted suits and prancing about trying to look important? That's the best guess I got.
You know, I seem to recall him doing the "not my job" dance a few months ago as well. Seems to be a pretty common refrain from the SEC. We should make their claim a reality, by giving them not a job.
December 24th, 2008 at 11:58 amIf it is not SEC and Cox responsibility , then whose responsibility is it?
December 24th, 2008 at 12:00 pmThe 50 billion dollar Ponzy scheme is not a little problem.
It is a monstrous one that went also for so many years undetected.
Cox need to look in the mirror,and stop trying to be evasive.
He knows that he should have done his job better..and if he does not believe that..then he should not have been in charge of this responsible agency to begin with.
A fish rots from the head down, Chris.
Hell is not warm enough for this stupid tool.
December 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pmCan anyone think of any neoconservative associated with the Bush administration who has taken responsibility for anything? Cheney DID just admit that he was the guiding force behind the new torture regimin. The media was more interested in a murdered toddler and a crooked governor.
December 24th, 2008 at 12:31 pmIf the mandate of the SEC is to protect investors, then I cannot see how Cox can say it is not the job of the SEC.
Then what is? How has the SEC allowed all of this to happen without knowing or trying to stop it? The SEC does bear some of the responsibility for not being a watch dog. None of these agencies have done their jobs. None.
December 24th, 2008 at 12:56 pmCox was appointed to turn a blind eye and make sure the missiion was completed. Bush will give him a metal for his successful work. Look at how many appointees who weren't qualified for the job were appointed. Porter Goss headed the CIA and didn't know how to use a computer and openly said he didn't know anything about the job Bush appointed him to.
December 24th, 2008 at 1:23 pmMy job is not to do my job. That's what I was appointed for. All hail the free markets.
December 24th, 2008 at 1:30 pm~Christopher Cox
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The portion of the brain that governs self-criticism is missing in wingers.
December 24th, 2008 at 1:38 pmHe is just another Reich Wing enabler,that want`s this country in third world condition so they can keep experimenting with free trade and free market economy and to get it right at any cost to us and the world, I say kill all of the NEOCONS and keep the liberal (ACLU) lawyers.
December 24th, 2008 at 2:39 pmThat's not their job. In fact, laissez faire capitalism is so efficient and self-regulating that they have to resort to surfing porn on the internet and running private businesses from their SEC offices to look busy.
December 24th, 2008 at 3:43 pmIf someone fails to do their job, even if it's a way to further a nefarious scheme, it still falls under the broad heading of "incompetence".
On a related topic:
Have any of the Reichwhiners who blamed the housing collapse on "greedy people who unwisely bought homes they couldn't afford" come out to blame the victims of Madoff's Ponzi scheme for "greedily investing in something to good to be true"?
Seriously, if I see someone guaranteeing a ridiculously high rate of return, a great big red light flashes in my head. But, I haven't heard a word of blame being directed at those who were greedy enough become victims.
December 24th, 2008 at 5:05 pmWhile I believe this RePugniScum from the reich-wing Orange County, CA political machine is a complete tool of his fascist, corporate masters he did support the Internet Tax Freedom Act.
That's the only good thang I can find about this sellout, traitor, middle class hatin', crony a$$, crackera$$, peckerwood that loves the Rich, RePugniScums, Hating Others, Jebus and the USA in that order!
December 24th, 2008 at 5:10 pmWhy his job is to let the fox in the henhouse. Put him in jail, where he belongs.
December 24th, 2008 at 6:32 pmIt is maddening. I agree that when you get the foxes guarding the chicken coop, we can't be surprised when all the chickens get slaughtered. No relief is coming from this admon, but hopefully criminal charges, I hope, will come from the enw one. Meanwhile, with a new year coming and no relief in site, we can laugh our way to the poor house with these lighter takes on the economic mess; a "Never too broke to joke" web video playlist.
December 24th, 2008 at 7:11 pmChristopher Cox was put in this position to allow deregulation to fester. He is a reichwingnut tool from Newport Beach, Orange, County, CA and could only have one goal and that would be for the fascist corporate thugs to control the money.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:43 pm