Sunday, March 22, 2009

Finance Minister Iris Evans "sees no evil", protects her job

The economic meltdown is being analyzed to determine what caused it and how our preventative systems failed us.  After three decades of working inside, or studying the financial services industry I offer the following as what I have discovered along the way.

Of course a human tendency towards greed is an obvious cause, that includes the people who took the money that they may (or may not) have known was impossible to repay.  I blame those persons to a certain extent since we are always responsible for our actions.  However lets go up one level and see if there is a greater duty of care with the service providers.

The folks who pushed, promoted, or "gave away" the farm with mortgages to those who were not qualified are in the business of lending.  They are supposed professionals, and as a result of this I hold them to a higher standard, a higher duty of care, to the public they serve.  They cannot say that they did not know better, as is the case for some of their customers.  They are a huge cause of what went wrong.

Next up the scale of accountability we look at the financial "meth labs", investment firms who are always on the lookout for the next great product to sell.  Like the original lenders, these banksters and brokers also had no interest in whether the investments were any good or not, they were simply interested in the commissions from selling them to the next poor soul.  This is a pretty good indicator of whether or not your investment firm is truly trying to place your interests first, as they promise.  They too, should be held to account, since their constant promise to the public is that they are "professionals", and not merely "hucksters".  It looks like they lied to us.

Then comes the bond rating agencies, who were hired and paid (by those investment firms) to fudge the ratings on tainted products.  They have sold their souls for short term profits and have thus lost the moral right to be considered professional.

Remarkably, our own financial watchdogs are next on the list of those persons or agencies who participated in the public fraud.  Here, with thirteen provincial and territorial securities commissions, all thirteen of those agencies granted "approximately 20" passes to investment firms to violate the Securities Act in each jurisdiction.  No public input. No public notice.  But when we learn that each commission is paid by the investment industry, based on fees and charges for such "work" as granting legal exemptions, it should come as no surprise.

Finally we get to the level of government ministers, who are responsible for those government agencies, which are responsible for inspecting, protecting and preventing investment fraud towards the public.  The federal government passes the buck back down to the provinces, saying that each province is responsible for matters of investment in their jurisdiction.

That gets us to Iris Evan, the finance minister for my province of Alberta.  The second from the top person who is supposedly responsible for all of the acts of those agencies and persons beneath her jurisdiction.  How does she react to the systemic failures?  By looking the other way unfortunately.  By ignoring the entire event as if nothing happened and by protecting her job, rather than protecting the public.  She joins the list of all of the so called "professionals", who choose their own self interests over the interests that a professional is supposed to be serving.

Failure at nearly each and every level, by nearly each and every person in a position of control or authority.

My strongest shock registers to those in government, who are charged with protecting us.  Our finance minister, and our securities commission.  Instead of getting rich by failing to do their jobs professionally, they simply stand to "not lose face", over their lack of ability to perform the job.  Maybe that is the same thing as money to a politician.

Either way, it is a breach of trust.  A criminal offense.  An offense punishable by jail.  As is criminal negligence. 

If we cannot hold our public officers accountable and responsible for their acts against the public.........and if the police cannot hold financial firms accountable or responsible for frauds against the public then we are due to repeat financial fraud over and over and over.  until our country can no longer tolerate the abuse and our economy fails.  All due to the people at the top who cannot do their job.  Iris Evan, will you please do your job?  Or premier Ed Stelmach will you please place someone in the position of Finance Minister who can do this important job?
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