Professor Voices » Tamar Frankel

Goldman/Libya ties probed

Jo Breiner — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:08:42 +0000

Boston University School of Law professor Tamar Frankel is an authority on securities law, corporate governance, and legal ethics. She offers the following comments on a report that regulators are looking into dealings between Goldman Sachs and Libya’s sovereign-wealth fund and if any bribery laws were violated:

“So Goldman Sachs is now being examined for various activities with the Libyan regime. The firm has hired an outside counsel, as is its practice, and insists on having done no wrong. It probably did not, in accordance with our laws.

“Many of the enforcement examinations, investigations, and court processes arise after the fact and cost an enormous amount of money, with some results — but perhaps not as strong as compared to their price.

“Are there better ways to induce giant financial institutions’ management to be more self-limiting, even within the law? Perhaps the answer is public opinion. If trust is undermined, financial businesses evaporate. For too long the belief was that if money is made — no matter how — public admiration will follow. Could this belief be proven to have changed?”

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

Goldman CEO to testify at Rajaratnam trial

Jo Breiner — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:57:21 +0000

Boston University law professor Tamar Frankel, an authority on securities law, corporate governance, and legal ethics, offers the following comment on the news that Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein will testify at the insider trading trial of Galleon Group’s co-founder Raj Rajaratnam:

“When the CEO of a large investment bank is ready to testify in a case of insider trading against a former director, what does it teach us? It shows that the court of public opinion is in session.”

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

Madoff’s prison interview

Jo Breiner — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:40:27 +0000

In his first interview since going to prison, Bernard Madoff told the New York Times that others were complicit in the fraud that brought him down. Boston University law professor Tamar Frankel is an authority on securities law, corporate governance, and legal ethics. Her latest book, “Con Artists and their Victims (of the Ponzi Variety)” will be published next month. Frankel believes he isn’t any different than other con artists and is just one of the crowd.

“My study of hundreds of con artists of the Ponzi scheme variety shows that Madoff is no exception. He copied and followed a trodden path.

“First, he blamed others. As one con artist said about his victims, ‘Serves them right if they were stupid enough to believe me.’ Second, self-aggrandizement is another feature of these con artists. Here is a person who claims that no one but himself – single handedly – ‘conned’ so many sophisticated persons for so long and for so much money. The ego must be fed.

“I have analyzed how con artists manage to induce very sophisticated and wealthy persons. Madoff is just one of the crowd. The only uniqueness was his payment of somewhat higher returns on fairly level, long-term basis. But he simply fit the promise to his ‘marks.’

“So let us cease to look at this particular person and view the system which thousands bave been practicing not only in the U.S. and all over the world. We should find the patterns and then ask ourselves why and how people fall for these scams. These are far more important questions.”

Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-352-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu