A book could be written about this.
What the broker did was wrong. I think the regulators should send some accountants in, determine the amount of profit the company made last year, and fine them 100% of that figure. That way the company would still be in business, people would still have their jobs, and the broker and others would be less likely to lie in the future. As for the revenue from the fine, the regulator should keep a small amount to cover their expenses, and then refund balance of the money proportionally to the investors that lost money on the bogus recommendations. BUT that would just be a legal solution, a somewhat feeble attempt at justice. (The $100 million fine is NO solution, it doesn't even approximate justice. The prosecutor ends up furthering his political career, the state ends up with $100 million, and the victims end up with nothing).
The real problem is that this kind of thing is the way of the world. Lying and stealing have been going on for thousands of years and there's no reason to believe that it's going to stop now. Saw a show on Joe Kennedy a few nights ago, he's the dead presidents father or grandfather . He made a fortune cheating in the stock market in the 1920's. He then used some of his money to buy RKO studios. Then he wanted better distribution so he offered to buy a competing chain of movie theaters for like $10 million dollars. When they wouldn't sell to him he hired a pretty 17 year old girl to lie and say that the owner of the competing studio had raped her. The owner was exonerated eventually but people had quit going to his theaters because they believed he had done wrong, so he was financially ruined and ended up selling his theaters to Kennedy for half of the original offer. Kennedy was described in the program as "an unscrupulous bully". The world belongs to people like this. His actions resulted in the power base for the whole future of the family. Since that time at least three men in or related to the family have been accused of being responsible for the deaths of three women, both murder and manslaughter. One thing I'm sure of. The thefts and lies that become common knowledge are just the tip of the iceberg and there's no reason to believe that things are going to change any time soon. It goes on at every level and in every way, and it always has. It is the way of the world. Complaining about it will not change it. The only thing a person can do, knowing this, is to try and deal with it as best they can and try not to become a victim. For a lie to "work" it takes at least two people. One to tell it and another to believe it. Two of the Liars' best allies are greed and fear residing in his victims. In other words, the lie needs a way "in" to the victim, so they probably in some way have participated in their loss and bear some of the guilt.
