When New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the Securities and Exchange Commission announced in March that they were investigating pay-to-play problems at the New York State Common Retirement Fund, we had a feeling it might be big, coming as it did in conjunction with broader calls for reform in the financial services industry. But little did we know just how big.
Scarcely a week has gone by since then when we haven’t found ourselves covering this from one angle or another, leading us to periodically massage our aching wrists and wish the Common Retirement Fund had a shorter name.
Despite the numerous guilty pleas (the most recent being that of Elliott Broidy) and settlements Cuomo has already extracted, it may be that we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg in this scandal, as there are also hints of wrongdoing in other states, including New Mexico and California, as of yet not fully explored. That is dangerous, as each additional charge of malfeasance or guilty plea will only add to the massive damage already done to the private equity industry’s reputation.
Original Article: The Private Equity Top 10: Numbers Two And Three - Private Equity Beat - WSJ
