Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Bank regulators in Washington may cringe as much as those running the financial institution targeted for the next WikiLeaks bombshell.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has promised to release “tens of thousands” of internal documents from a major U.S. bank (thought to be Bank of America) that could prove to be highly embarrassing. But the embarrassment won’t just be felt by those in charge of the bank in question.
Officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also are preparing for a possible backlash once the documents are published. If the materials demonstrate illegal or unethical practices by bank officials, the public may demand to know why the SEC didn’t find out first and do something about it.
If the documents do reveal illegal activities, the government will have to determine whether the materials released by WikiLeaks can be used in prosecutions.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Prospect of WikiLeaks Dump Poses Problems for Regulators (by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Deal Book)
Next Target of WikiLeaks…Bank of America? (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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