Another Fund Wrist Slap

Chuck Jaffe of Marketwatch has a great story on the absurd wrist slap that was meted out last week by the Securities and Exchange Commission to former Putnam Investments boss Lawrence Lasser in a serious mutual fund pay-for-play case.

Says Jaffe: "The Lasser case was seen as a step up in enforcement, a sign that regulators wanted top managers to know that their necks are on the line. Forget about it: The settlement amounted to $75,000, a one-fingered slap on the wrist. "

That's an absurdity. As I pointed out in a New York Times op-ed article a few months ago, the feds need to make Wall Streeters feel pain when they break the law. "Pain from laughing too hard" is not what I had in mind.

© 2007 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.

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