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by bilegeek 1973 days ago
Well, the IRS doesn't go after rich people because they don't have the funding[1]; they only go after the people they can afford to go after[2].

I know the IRS is different from the SEC, Apples to Oranges. But like you said, they've neglected insider trading; it's probably for very similar reasons, because those being investigated just have too much power to take down. I'm sure the SEC will hammer these easy targets on WSB well before they even dare touch the Big Boys.

[1]https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/sunday-review/tax-rich-ir...

[2]https://www.propublica.org/article/earned-income-tax-credit-...

4 comments

If you look at the SEC website, they list all their current complaints filed against people for Insider Trading.

There are many [1].

[1] https://secsearch.sec.gov/search/docs?utf8=%E2%9C%93&affilia...

SEC got neutered when the previous US administration got into power. The administration before that was actively pursuing cases.
No - false. They cherry picked a data window...

> January 2016 through the end of the SEC fiscal year on September 30, 2017

If you look at the followup data, you can see both administrations are similar...

https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/Fig3-SEEDNov2020...

...and then if you actually read my above link, you'd see numerous Insider Trading prosecutions (which was the original false claim made above).

You are correct that they cherry picked information. However you are still incorrect on the original assertion that SEC is not in fact neutered. There have been more enforcement actions but insider trading enforcement has been the lowest in decades:

source: https://www.npr.org/2020/08/14/901862355/under-trump-sec-enf...

Could you note any major cases the previous administration pursued that didn't involve some lone scapegoat trader and/or a minority everyone could agree to dislike? Were there any actual cases after the 2008 mortgage/cdo/cds crisis, for example?
Prediction: SEC will go after one or two retail traders who are minorities and blame the entire episode on their probably harmless tweet or post.
I don't know why you're being voted down here. These are legitimate articles in major publications that are broadly accepted by experts in the field. Sad!