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It appears that Mr. Wasendorf's biggest offense, and the one that now looks to be sending him to the slammer, was that he didn't make enough (or any) political contributions to the two major parties.

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We are in receipt of your email. NFA is working to keep customers apprised of the recent developments in Peregrine Financial Group, Inc ("PFG") matter. The most current information available from NFA can be found at www.nfa.futures.org. Please click here for the most recent notice issued by NFA.

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We literally are and have been in scandal of the week mode here since the middle of the 2000s, and anyone who expects business people to invest in long-run capital projects or hire employees as long as this trend continues is nuts.

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It now seems that people have had enough, and are now willing to speak out against the NFA. Here is a letter sent to me last night by a FOREX trader (whom I have checked out - this person is definitely for real), outlining their experience with the NFA, and specifically Lauren Brinati, which confirms and echoes everything I have said.

This person is willing to speak to the press. Any reporters who want to pursue what you read here should email me contact info, which I will then forward to this FOREX professional.

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Hi Ann,
After reading your post on the Lauren Brinati antics, I just feel compelled to tell you my personal experience with her, the NFA, and the CFTC. It is a long story, but I will try to keep it short unless you request the full feature-length saga, but trust me, I have all of the emails to verify every word of my story.

I have been a forex trader since the year 2000 and at the time of the Farm Bill which included the mandate for Retail Forex to become regulated by the CFTC (and thus the NFA) I was a Referring Broker for FXCM (a Forex Brokerage).

Problem #1: The congressional mandate for retail forex to be regulated had NO BUSINESS being stuck on the back end of the Farm Bill, it was just a way to get it passed when NO member of Congress understood what they were doing or what they were asking for as "regulation" as NONE of them understood anything about the industry (it was just a pet peeve of one congressman who had a personal vendetta and score to settle due to a trading loss suffered by one of his friends.)

Problem #2: Anyone who knows anything at all about retail forex understands that it is far more similar to stock trading than futures trading, and it should have been put under the authority of the SEC to begin with - not the CFTC, but since the idiots in congress thought that "forex futures contracts" were the sum total of everything forex, and since the CFTC already regulated forex futures (a commodity) this is what we got.

Anyway, the CFTC and NFA were really*****ed off when they were told that they would have to regulate retail forex - it was not a job they wanted. Their first responsibility was to "study" the industry so that they could then develop regulations for it. I contacted both the CFTC and NFA multiple times during the first days, and weeks (and months) after the Farm Bill mandate to offer my services, expertise, and experiences during their exploratory period as I knew (probably) more about the retail forex industry (and the problems that plagued it) than almost anyone. They never wanted to hear anything I had to say.

After they published the "results" of their study, I just could not believe what I was reading. It was the most ridiculous document I have ever seen - filled with "facts" that were simply wrong, logic sequences that were illogical and absurd, and conclusions that sounded like something prepared by a 2nd grader. And most shocking was the list of "industry experts" they had used to gather their information from. It was none-other-than 17 of the most flagrantly abusive forex brokers! Amazing.... They had never even tried to gather information from actual traders (who were the people they new regulations were supposed to protect!) To make the story short - what they had done was essentially try to fit retail forex into the box they already had for forex futures instead of trying to create rules and regulations that would make sense for retail forex, and then incorporate all of the brokers' abusive tactics into regulations (thus now ASSURING that the brokers would have the advantage over the traders!!)

After reading their report, and the direction they were going to take the new rules and regulations, I again contacted both the CFTC and NFA with a long email explaining each point in detail on things they were wrong about, what the correct path should be to protect traders and make for a better trading environment, etc. Again - they didn't want to hear it. In one telephone call with the lovely Lauren Brinati, I introduced myself (again) to her and ask for the opportunity to explain a "traders perspective" on some of the issues, when she literally started SCREAMING at me, saying, "Who do you think you are? Why do you think you know more than the NFA?" and on and on - it was CRAZY TALK and totally bizarre.

When they had the "public comment period" before the new rules and regulations were finalized - there were over 9,000 public comments posted. I read EVERY SINGLE ONE. Of the 9,000+ comments there were maybe 25 that were supportive of the new rules and the rest were not. And yet, they still passed the rules EXACTLY as originally written... They HAVE THEIR OWN AGENDA and pay no attention to the people they are supposed to be serving. What a joke!

I have NO DOUBT that the NFA is corrupt and the CFTC - if not a part of the corruption is DERELICT in their duty by letting the NFA run their phoney audits and assults against legitimate IBs, CTAs and CPOs.

I have NO DOUBT that the NFA is in partnership with the large forex brokers to run all the smaller companies out of business. It is so obvious that it isn't even funny. It PROTECTS the forex brokers that CHEAT and created trading rules that made it MORE difficult for traders to manage their accounts and make profits, and the CFTC pulled the grand daddy of all when it came time for the retail forex accounts to be moved back to the United States - by changing their "interpretation" of their own rules AFTER 5 PM on the day of the deadline (so that traders had NO WAY of protecting their accounts). This shenanigan cost me over $250,000 in a margin call.

And - you are right about Miss Lauren - SHE DOESN'T KNOW SQUAT ABOUT ANYTHING regarding trading forex, or futures, or commodities. She, like ALL of her associates in the NFA should be in prison for FRAUD for how they are running that organization.

I would be happy to join in a legal action against them. Please let me know what develops with that.

Thanks,
M

Reuters wrote..

A quarter of Wall Street executives see wrongdoing as a key to success, according to a survey by whistleblower law firm Labaton Sucharow

Chuck Prince, former CEO of Citigroup wrote..

When the music stops, in terms of liquidity, things will be complicated. But as long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance. We’re still dancing.

Rule10 wrote..

Maria= Evil that is alive and amongst us. Evil MUST be confronted and eliminated.

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Ask Dimon. He may know.