What Happened To Full Disclosure?

I haven't given my two cents on the world of finance in a while and for good reason; I was waiting to see how the story will unfold. I supported the Wall Street bailout but these days I'm beginning to think why in the world did I support the $700 Billion claim especially when I'm NOT seeing the fruits of the labor. It's like dating a guy and vouching for his character only after the breakup, you wonder "what did I ever see in him?"

In my defense, I wrote that $700 billion must come with some oversight and parameters for benchmark results. Well, what do you know - That didn't happen! The economy has sinked to a new low the past three months, with credit even getting tighter for small businesses which had led to more unemployment.

So checking out the business news (a habit since undergrad), I felt like shouting out when I saw most of these financial institutions can't give a basic accounting of what happened to the tax-payer's funds. Oh I was about to scream! That goes against everything I believe in being a proper steward and do these companies know a certain principle called FULL DISCLOSURE?

I mean a bank executive said this: "We're choosing not to disclose that." Are you freaking kidding me! He-llo you don't have any choice in the matter. First of all, you're not a private company (you're publicly traded) and second of all, YOU GOT BAILED OUT BY TAX PAYERS' MONEY. So you better start giving the fundamental principles of your profession - full disclosure!

I feel we were duped. The government is not giving sanctions on this particular fiasco but they could ask the Detroit Big 3 to show them all kinds of ways they could improve their products (rightfully so) for only $14 billion. There's something very fishy about this . . .

Tags: $700 Billion Bailout