That's my point. He lost his business for his own choices and reasons. Not because of one raid that later exonerate him. But he now spins the story to fuck taxpayers.
Fully and 100% agree in fact I go on a limp saying that most cash equity based hedge funds that produce extraordinary gains year in year out do so based on insider information
With all due respect, but fuxx you (and please report me to the police in case you feel offended) . Just because we knew that makes it right and wrongdoing should not be prosecuted? How about you move back to the cave and pick up fishing so that you don't have to be confronted with the complexities of this world because you apparently have a hard time dealing with them. You can feel free to bend your ethical standards or whatever else you want to bend but don't belittle those who uphold standards and regulations, that makes you the monkey in the room not the others. Edit: sorry about calling names but I am very passionate about upholding ethical stands and it passes me off when someone like you belittles those who put in an effort to fight for truth and ethical behavior within the legal framework.
No offense taken here. Your post however proves my point exactly, which is the world is complex, it's not black or white. It's real easy to judge and condemn from the ivory tower. As I've said to others on ET before and IRL, if you are so passionate about it, do something about it. Want to help starving kids in Africa? Join an NGO. Don't like insider trading and foul play? Quit your job as a hedgie and take the bar to be district DA. BTW from one person to another, you've lambasted others in other threads. If you don't like a harsh tone coming back at you, don't throw the 1st rock. No hard feelings here, just an observation.
So your read from my comments is for all those who care about regulations and laws to join NGOs but to stay away from financial services? That's quite an insult to all those who sit day in day out in front of their screens, analyze data, develop financial models and trade them and care about doing it the legal and right way. Just because a few fuck it up for the rest of us (we would have way less regulations without the existence of all the black sheep) does not mean we need to lower our standards. Those in the market who grossly disregard fair and equitable markets hurt not only themselves, their firms, but also all the Joes on the street who have their pension savings invested and managed by a few crooks who gamble with legal and regulatory standards. Truly a shame if you ask me. We ought to strive to identify such crooks and ban them from further participation in our markets and demand from them to make whole everyone they deceived. A few mistakes in investigation and persecution imho are a price worth paying to keep up the standards of our markets, else we can as well go back to the Wild West. Usually the biggest crooks are screaming the loudest and threaten to or actually sue in a grotesk way to extort from a system that is actually designed to protect them (in terms of upholding the reputation and trust in their industry).
You want to make your living in a fair and respectful way, ok I respect that. I do agree we need fair and transparent markets. However, if you are going to preach moral and ethical standards, you'd best be the shining example of it. Are you? That's rhetorical of course, but everyone has skeletons in the closet. You are going to say you never committed any wrongdoings in your life no matter how minor? Doesn't have to be in financial services. Only a saint can judge others without being a hypocrite. BTW, you might have a little too much trust in an industry that is filled with mediocre performance(almost everyone), aggressive cost cuttings(jobs), questionable dealings to the highest levels(corruption/borderline criminal negligence), and worships only the bottom line(profit). What value do we as traders really add to society? At least I don't sugarcoat it.
I do believe I have been quite exemplary in my business career. I do not remember that I have ever acted illegally or that I have ever lied, not even white lies in over 15 years at various firms. It took courage at times and at times rejecting to participate in certain things, but after a short while my conduct always earned me the trust and respect of bosses and fellow traders on the floor. I am not saying I am perfect, I have my faults and mistakes in my personal life, heck, I even lose patience at times posting here...what I am proposing is full fledged support for regulators and attorney generals who not just make a living doing what they are doing but having chosen their career on purpose not because they had no other choices in the private corporate sector. I think that deserves support and praise even if they make minor mistakes at times. Bashing regulators and attorney generals for trying hard to bring to justice bad elements just because they failed a handful of times in their entire career makes zero sense to me. I agree that it is always better to check and verify than blindly trust in this industry. But I do not believe this industry enjoys too much trust. In fact the scrutiny is often very stringent and that is how it should be. Is there room or improvement? I guess there is... Traders do not add in visible ways value to society as, let's say a missionary, medical doctor, or entrepreneur. But profitable traders add to the bottom line of their employers, independent traders add to their own bottom line and both enables the firms/individuals to purchase other products and services that add to a nations GDP. Also, most traders transfer risk, they are essentially risk transfer agents. That is a valuable function in financial markets because trading counter parties are able to offload risk at their time of choosing and most always a trader on the other side stands ready to take the risk off their book. Again, I am not saying that trading adds value to society to the degree other professions do but completely denying the value-add is not fair either.
My impression is very much the opposite: it seems to me that all too often they try to bolster their "case" by trying it in the media, and that kind of bluster is often (as in this case, apparently) a sign of weakness. The presumption of innocence is an "inconvenient little thing" to people with that perspective, isn't it?
This is like suing the IRS for auditing your tax returns. Bad luck, but nobody would think of suing the IRS.
The difference here is you have a wealthy guy with the talent, brains and resources to take on the government jokers. He should be applauded. Not vilified like some here are trying. Don't get me wrong, if he did crime he should be punished. However, the prosecuters witch hunt could not pin anything on him. His reputation was ruined. A tough place to be in NYC. He has every right to pursue for justice and my bet is he will win.