The influence of money in politics has certainly permeated into banking regulation. Sure, the SEC has …show more content…
Banking regulators have incentives to tread lightly in return for lucrative positions in the banking industry after they leave the SEC. And this isn’t some issue involving a few rogue employees as an investigation by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) documented the extent of the problem. That study found that from 2001 through 2010 there were 419 former SEC employees that lobbied the SEC on behalf of their banking clients! The revolving door needs to be monitored as even senior employees of the SEC have been part of this cycle. Only four months after leaving her position as chairman of the SEC, Mary Schapiro (Obama’s first appointee), took a position with Promontory Financial Group, a consulting firm which specializes in regulatory issues for financial …show more content…
Attorney, was Schapiro’s successor and her résumé serves as another reminder of this odd dynamic with the stigmatization of gambling and the protection of Wall Street conmen. Mary Jo White took a hard stance against illegal offshore gambling with the prosecution of Jay Cohen, former CEO of World Sports Exchange (WSEX) in Antigua. As you may remember, a DOJ spokesman publicly stated shortly before her case that they didn’t have the authority to prosecute offshore sportsbooks. Nonetheless, White was firm in her beliefs stating that offshore sportsbooks would continue to face “vigorous prosecution.” In a press release, she supported the prison sentence for Cohen, a man who simply provided an activity between consenting