Monday, September 9, 2013

Welcome to the party

The Wall Street Journal (and Paul Atkins), catches up with HSIB, and alerts New Yorkers to the charms of one the candidates for Comptroller;
As attorney general, Mr. Spitzer pursued a self-aggrandizing crusade against Wall Street without regard for the costs to New York companies, their shareholders, or his state's position as the global capital of finance. He targeted high-profile business people and institutions on flimsy pretexts, abused his powers as prosecutor, and destroyed careers, reputations and companies through leaks to the press, rumor-mongering, and threats.
Mr. Spitzer knew that an indictment, even if never proven, would seriously damage a company's reputation and even put it out of business. Among other things, federal securities laws do not permit indicted companies to manage money. Thus his targets in the heavily regulated securities industry could not call his bluff and have their day in court to prove their case, choosing to settle instead.
This made for easy prosecutorial prey for a man with boundless political ambitions. His cases grabbed splashy headlines, but most people never knew the full story until it emerged years later.
We'll see in tomorrow's primary election if 'most people' know the story even now.

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