Good post as usual Sinbob. It was just announced today that the SEC snubbed a Congressional request to reveal why it suddenly ended its investigation of Bear Stearns. This gets better because they offered no reason due to "confidentiality" issues.

There once was a time when Congress held some clout but not when it comes to dealing with bankers. Should Congress decide to push this issue with the SEC, the odds are quite good that a few Congressmen will be paid a visit by U.S. Treasury agents wearing dark suits, similar to the ones that visit the gold and silver pits occasionally.

Who does the SEC really protect now?

Regards - VHF

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SEC mum on why it ended Bear Stearns probe

Last update: 11:22 a.m. EDT April 23, 2008

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission turned down a congressional request to divulge why it cut off an investigation into whether Bear Stearns Cos. hurt investors by improperly determining the value of complex debt securities, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The SEC cited confidentiality issues in its choice to abort an enforcement case begun in 2005 into actions at Bear Stearns several months before the Wall Street firm collapsed in March and was acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the newspaper said.

The decision could trigger further fighting between lawmakers and securities regulators over the dropped Bear Stearns case, according to the report.

An SEC spokesman declined to comment on the story.

Sen. Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, earlier this month asked the inspector general of the SEC to probe the reasons why the agency's enforcement division did not bring a case against Bear Stearns for improperly valuing mortgage-related products.

"Given the later collapse and federally backed bail-out of Bear Stearns, Congress needs to understand more about this case and why the SEC ultimately sought no enforcement action," Grassley wrote in a letter.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox replied to Grassley in an April 16 letter, The Journal reported on Tuesday. "The Commission does not disclose the existence or nonexistence of an investigation or information generated in any investigation unless made a matter of public record in proceedings brought before the Commission or the courts," Cox wrote.

Grassley and Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, said they will continue to pursue information on the Bear Stearns probe from the SEC, according to the report.