Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Court Reverses SEC Victory in SEC v. Goble


COURT OF APPEAL THROWS OUT SEC’S FRAUD CHARGES AGAINST RICHARD GOBLE
Court of appeals vindicates former FINRA Board Member and Head of North American Clearing
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals today threw out charges of Securities fraud and a permanent bar against former FINRA board member Richard Goble after hearing his case on appeal.  After fighting charges from the SEC for nearly four years Goble has been vindicated of the most serious charges, although the court did find he aided and abetted North American in  the net cap computation of the firm. Goble was not the financial operator of the firm, and the violations left intact have been described by SIPA members as tantamount to a warning from the mailman not to park your car in front of a mail box. Goble was the owner of North American Clearing and one of the founders of the Financial Industry Association (FIA). The FIA was shut down immediately by the regulators when the SEC and a court appointed receiver arrived at North American's place of business in May 2008. In addition to closing the FIA web site and servers, the SEC and the court appointed receiver confiscated millions of dollars from the accounts of North American and used those funds to pay legal fees totaling nearly $ 5 million dollars. Today is actually the four year anniversary of the SEC shutting down North American Clearing and it now appears the firm was closed for watering their lawn on the wrong day of the week. In addition to the losses suffered by Goble, dozens of FINRA brokerage firms lost millions of dollars in settlement accounts that were used by the receiver to pay legal fees.
The recent news of executives fighting the SEC, who has decided to go after executives and lawyers in addition to the companies they work for, and the Commission’s destruction of documents in its investigations of large U.S. Banks’ role in the 2008 Crisis has sparked controversy over the agency’s effectiveness.
Sources: www.thesipa.com