I hope this is in the bail out bill.

[SeattleUte]

I'm talking about a perfect world. Universal justice. These guys earn eight figures, and on top of that, when they can't pay their bills when due, rather than pony up their own funds, they have a red phone that dials straight in to the Dept. of the Treasury, and with no adverse consequence personally, apparently. I've never seen such a thing. They aren't even suffering any personal disgrace from what I can tell.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by PaloAltoCougar

The idea of forcing directors and officers to forfeit their net worth may be satisfying given everyone's anger about the gargantuan mess we're in, but it's also silly to think for a second that would ever happen. The Fifth Amendment would be a good place to start for reasons why.

However, it might not be a stretch to impose a few major penalties, including the forfeiture of all stock and options held by D's & O's of the assisted corporations, on the ground that without the assistance, the stock and options would be worthless anyway. A tougher penalty would be to impose a forfeiture of all profits made on the sale of stock within the last [two? four?] years, a kind of Section 16(b) short-swing profits penalty, albeit with a much wider amplitude than the current six months. Imposing the rule after the fact wouldn't pass constitutional muster, but I wonder if it could fly if it were imposed as another condition of assistance. Executives who resisted could be tarred and feathered and the next annual meeting of stockholders.

Yikes. I am all for piercing the corporate veil in cases of fraud, but some of these solutions people want are almost draconian.

Why not head over to their house with pitchforks and torches?

PS not a response to your post, per se, PAC

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

Yikes. I am all for piercing the corporate veil in cases of fraud, but some of these solutions people want are almost draconian.

Why not head over to their house with pitchforks and torches?

PS not a response to your post, per se, PAC

That article I linked says it all. These guys are super greedy morons. The fellow who single handedly destroyed AIG and wiped out its stockholers' equity lives in a placial house a block from Herrod's in London.

The hilarious thing is Goldman claiming its CEO met with AIG's CEO and Paulson to secretly arrange the AIG bail out not to save Goldman but for the good of the entire system! They think we're all stupid.

[8ballrollin]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

Yikes. I am all for piercing the corporate veil in cases of fraud, but some of these solutions people want are almost draconian.

I imagine class action suits by shareholders are in the works.

It seems very under reported, but large numbers of retail-level investors dumped a lot of money into financial stocks (perceived long-term players and conservative investments) who have lost all of their principle investment.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by 8ballrollin

I imagine class action suits by shareholders are in the works.

It seems very under reported, but large numbers of retail-level investors dumped a lot of money into financial stocks (perceived long-term players and conservative investments) who have lost all of their principle investment.

The class action suits are underway. Unfortunately, the bailed out corporations probably will have to indemnify the officers and directors per the bylaws or their employment contracts. It's like a perfect crime. They will be unscathed.

[landpoke]

Did you read that article Waters posted over in Politics? Some dude's losing his fiance because, now that Lehman has folded, he's only worth "a couple 100K."

Is that enough to satisfy your blood lust?

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by landpoke

Did you read that article Waters posted over in Politics? Some dude's losing his fiance because, now that Lehman has folded, he's only worth "a couple 100K."

Is that enough to satisfy your blood lust?

It's a buyer's market for trophy wives right now in NYC. Get there quick. Bring small bills.

[BYU71]

I think to let Goldman go under would be anti-semantic.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by BYU71

I think to let Goldman go under would be anti-semantic.

Hey 71.....wachovia is now gonzo, too.

When will this media stop pretending like the economy is in trouble?

[SeattleUte]

They've had lobbyists saying that they should still get their seven and eight figure bonuses out of the bail out money. These guys have a sense of entitlement that would make an old Soviet boss in his dacha blush.