Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu

Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu

“Staffing the Securities and Exchange Commission with specialized expert examiners and investigators is an idea whose time has come. Not only is the financial market far more complicated than in the past, it is also far larger and global.

“The agency needs experts not only as prosecutors but also as the police on the beat. The private-sector police, such as the accountants, attorneys and rating agencies, have failed to provide the information to the enforcement agencies and limit the spread of fraud. The time has come to remove their function to the government.

“If, together with government specialists, we have internal compliance officers within the corporation, we might achieve a better balance of power and a change in the culture and practice of the actors in the financial system. That, after all, is what is ncessary to ensure a thriving financial system and a stronger economy. The SEC should be complimented on its initiatives.”

Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu

“‘It’s the culture, stupid.’ Law not only limits innovations, it also controls competition on innovative antisocial behavior. We have created a culture that is hostile to law.  Our culture attributes to lawmakers and regulators corrupt practices and intent. This justifies the same behavior by those subject to the laws and regulations.

“The fact that examinations started soon after taxpayers’ money was doled out is a good sign. The better would have been examinations before money was given.  To be sure, time pressure made installment of such examinations impossible. But now they are possible and should be established — not once, but as a matter of course, long-term and often.

“At the same time, the examiners should be shielded from temptation as well. A balance must be achieved or our financial system will not revive.”

Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu

Journalism Professor Mitchell Zuckoff, author of “Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend,” says in a New York Times blog that Bernard Madoff has become an emblem of a bad financial era.

“Once in a rare while, a financial fraud is so audacious and extraordinary, yet so in tune with larger societal forces and deep-seated fears, that it becomes the negative emblem of a financial era.  Nearly a century ago, that’s what happened with Charles Ponzi.  Today, it’s Ponzi’s disciple, Bernard Madoff.”

Meantime, writing for Fortune, Zuckoff compares the spouses of Ponzi and Madoff and how they were or were not engaged in their respective husbands’ schemes.

“It’s an open queston what Ruth Madoff knew of the deeds committed by her husband of nearly 50 years.  But already, her actions contrast sharply with those of Rose Ponzi’s causing suspicions to abound … Rose Ponzi walked away from her husband’s scheme broke but innocent.   Given the pain Bernard Madoff caused by emulating Charles Ponzi, Ruth Madoff might want to consider following the example of Ponzi’s wife.”

Contact Mitchell Zuckoff, 617-353-5968, zuckoff@bu.edu

“It seems that Madoff’s strategy is to confess, shorten all proceedings as much as possible, avoid jury trial almost at all costs, perhaps serve some time in prison – if impossible to avoid – and then life will start again.  He did not take the route that Enron’s management has taken, to deny and protest the innocence that was not there.  Wiser for him.”

Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu