Phil Cannella Interviews Michael Smallberg of POGO

With the release of a new report on Monday by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), it only makes sense to revisit Phil Cannella’s interview with Michael Smallberg of POGO.  Mr. Smallberg is an investigator at the organization, which seeks to advocate for stricter regulations preventing the Revolving Door Between the SEC and the private sector financial industry.  The second of two POGO reports was released this week and outlines specific instances where the revolving door may have influenced the outcome of SEC matters.

When Phil Cannella interviewed Michael Smallberg, it was after the release of the first POGO report on the revolving door.  The two men discussed The Project on Government Oversight and its goals:

“Generally we investigate corruption and misconduct in order to achieve a more open, ethical, accountable, and effective federal government.”

Michael Smallberg, Investigator, the Project on Government Oversight

POGO has been around for over 30 years now, and its goal is to be an unbiased, non-profit, and non-partisan government watchdog group.  When a company in the private sector is accused of misconduct, it is investigated by a regulator like the SEC.  But when the SEC is accused of misconduct, there is often nowhere to turn.  The Inspector General of the SEC is supposed to handle these types of matters, but as former SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz has said, Inspector Generals often run into difficulties conducting investigations when management doesn’t want to go along with their recommendations.

After explaining POGO’s mission, the topic of the conversation quickly turned to the revolving door and its impact on cases being argued before the SEC.

“…from 2006 to 2010, we had nearly 800 statements filed by over 200 former employees who had gone through this revolving door.”

 Michael Smallberg, Investigator, the Project on Government Oversight

While Smallberg conceded that the revolving door is not always a problem, it does create the potential for conflicts of interest and also undermines the goals of the SEC.  Even one case in which the outcome was influenced is too many.  If even the possibility of this occurring exists, then the SEC loses all credibility.  The American people need to be certain that government regulators are doing their jobs in an appropriate and unbiased manner.

The full audio of this interview can be found here:

http://www.mixcloud.com/philcannella/phil-cannella-interviews-michael-smallberg/

For more of Phil Cannella’s groundbreaking interviews, be sure to tune into the Crash Proof Retirement Show­ ® Every Saturday from 11-1 and every Sunday from 1-3 on 1210 WPHT, Philly’s Top Talk Radio Station.