The SEC's Battle With Common Sense

There's a good Chris Byron column today on how a shareholder-ripping recidivist has been allowed to flourish by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Byron notesthat the SEC has instead been diverted by the nonexistent "naked short-selling scandal."

Think about this this: When (not if, when) all these allegations of naked shorting are eventually found to be without merit, and all the naked-shorting con men have scattered to the far corners of the earth, will the federal and state officials who chased this red herring be held accountable?

The answer, of course, is "no." That explains why the SEC has spent so much time and energy on this issue. It is politically expedient and there is no downside. Only investors get hurt by this foolish diversion of regulatory resources, after all. Nobody of consequence to Chris Cox's SEC.

© 2006 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.

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