The October 21, 2008 letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox is now available on the Senate Finance Committee website (here). In the letter, as previously discussed here, Sen. Grassley states that he has received an anonymous but specific letter alleging that Linda Chatman Thomsen, the SEC’s director of enforcement, gave information about investigations into Bear Stearns to the general counsel of J.P. Morgan Chase, which at the time was considering whether to buy Bear Stearns. Sen. Grassley also attaches a copy of the anonymous letter that prompted his letter to Chairman Cox.
Sen. Grassley requests that by October 28, 2008, the SEC provide his committee with the following with respect to Bear Stearns:
1) A detailed summary of each of the SEC investigations pending in February or March 2008 concerning the investment bank. The summary should include (a) the dates on which any Matter Under Investigation ( MUI ) was opened and/or closed, (b) the dates on which any Formal Order of Investigation (“Formal Order”) was considered and approved or rejected by the Commission, (c) the dates on which any draft Ills Notice was ever prepared, regardless of whether it was finalized, and (d) a description of the nature of the potential violations by Bear Stearns or its employees.
2) Any and all records of communications between SEC staff and representatives of J.P. Morgan Chase in February or March 2008 related to any of the cases described above. To the extent that no such records exist, please provide a detailed description of any such contacts that occurred without a record having been made and describe why no record of the communications was made.
Read the Oct. 21, 2008 Letter from Sen. Grassley to Chairman Cox
