PFG freezes accounts, CEO attempts suicide

[southall]

Quote from denner:


It's just hard for me to believe that the regulators would just be "getting around to" e-verification in the middle of 2012. This is something that should have been implemented at least 10 years ago.

It would require every bank in the country to implement e-verification for Auditors.
How long have the banks provided this service?
Was a law ever passed to force every bank in the country to provide this facility. If so when? If not then im sure lots of banks dont even allow it yet.

 

[denner]

Quote from southall:

It would require every bank in the country to implement e-verification.
How long have the banks provided this service.
Was a law ever passed to force every bank in the country to provide this facility. If so when? If not then im sure some banks dont even allow it yet.

How many FCM's have you seen that use some community thrift or credit union to hold customer segregated funds?

The banks that hold these funds are the biggest in the country...

 

[Swan Noir]

The fact is the heart of the audit process is that the CPA contacts financial and other institutions directly and receives written verification of funds/assets under their custody. While verifying liabilities can be tricky -- sometimes they just do not appear on the books of a company -- not verifying the accuracy of financial assets on deposit with a bank is simply absurd.

Assuming a firm audited PFG's statements -- and that may not be the case -- if you lost money here think class action against the accountants. Confirming bank balances is audit 101. It is truly impossible to screw up. That's why Madoff used a tiny firm that he kept stored in his pocket. They were part of the fraud.

Quote from achilles28:

Well said. Re: PFG, Corzine, Madoff, wtf is wrong with these people

 

[southall]

Quote from Swan Noir:

That's why Madoff used a tiny firm that he kept stored in his pocket. They were part of the fraud.

Who are PFG's accountant/auditors? wouldnt surprise me if they are another small shady outfit in the back pocket of the CEO.

 

[logic_man]

Quote from denner:

Those are valid points, but I have to disagree with your claim that there would be additional costs in the process of e-verification. In fact, I think that the NFA/CFTC made a mis-step when they revealed that this entire fraud was unconvered as a result of demanding an e-verification...It almost sounded as if this was standard practice for other FCM's and that the Principal of the firm oppossed it, for obvious reasons, because it would reveal the siphoning of the customer funds.

It's just hard for me to believe that the regulators would just be "getting around to" e-verification in the middle of 2012. This is something that should have been implemented at least 10 years ago.

I agree. I have to wonder what the NFA has been spending its budget on while e-verification sat on the back burner.

 

[achilles28]

Quote from bone:



The undeniable fact of the matter is that if the government auditors had simply double-checked the accounting figures directly with the FCM's bank, then the damage wrought by MF and PFG would have certainly been considerably less.

It seems that the CFTC auditors take the FCMs word at face value for account balances without ever checking directly with the bank supposedly holding the FCM funds.

Yep, bigger government is the answer.

This. The entire "industry" - from brokerage to regulator, is neck-deep in fraud. Somebody tell me the CFTC couldn't directly check account balances at a FCM's bank. It's bullshit.

 

[achilles28]

Quote from bone:

Nope, swing and a miss. How about the freaking regulators not taking account balances at face value from the entities supposedly being regulated ? How is it that a government bureaucracy with a $200M annual budget cannot verify with the bank supposedly holding the segregated funds what the FCM claims in its' regulatory filings ? How fundamentally simple is that...

Why should we insure something as taxpayers when the smarter, more efficient, more honest way of doing things correctly is for a government auditor to actually do their jobs correctly in the first place ? Why should taxpayers subsidize more government incompetence when you have a $120K per year government accountant with a ridiculous pension and benefits plan that is too lazy or inept to check the FCM's figures against the bank account balance ?

This. The whole thing is criminal. The CFTC is filled with criminals!

 

[Maverick74]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/pgf-f...the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero)

That's all she wrote.

 

[southall]

Quote from achilles28:

This. The whole thing is criminal. The CFTC is filled with criminals!

More likely they just incompetent, jerking off to Porn all day like their buddies at the SEC.

 

[RichardRimes]

http://www.barnhardt.biz/

Sr IS on the NFA advisory committee :eek:

http://www.nfa.futures.org/NFA-about-nfa/committees/advisory-committee.HTML