Throughout the week over at Securities Docket, I highlight the most interesting columns and blog posts from around the web on the subjects of SEC enforcement and securities litigation. Here is a digest of my picks for the week ending August 19.

Trader in Insider Case Speaks Out Again

DealBook | Ben Protess | Aug 19, 2011

Most people accused of insider trading hunker down and let their lawyers do the talking. Not Toby G. Scammell.... In an e-mail interview with DealBook, Mr. Scammell defended his reputation, issued yet another scathing critique of the S.E.C. and spoke of his love for Tumblr, the blog hosting platform he used to create the new Web site, SECfail.com.

Matt Taibbi Thinks It's “Orwellian” For the Government Not To Keep Records On You Just Because You Haven't Done Anything Wrong

Dealbreaker | Matt Levine | Aug 18, 2011

Matt Taibbi may actually be right that it breaks the law – he has, on occasion, been right about facts in the world, though it's often a coincidence. Here he suggests that some SEC staffers were worried about personal criminal liability for not archiving records of preliminary inquiries, which sounds a little far-fetched but possible. And there are some more interesting accusations here – including some suggestive coincidences where SEC enforcement execs squashed investigations and then left for the firms that were being investigated. But we were always under the impression that the trouble with Big Brother was too much all-pervading surveillance, not too little.

SEC Declares Educated Guessing Illegal

Business Insider | R. Foster Winans | Aug 17, 2011

The SEC has brought an insider trading case that is so trivial, so bone-headed, so absurd that you'd swear it was a piece of satire from The Onion.... When the government tries to make pillow talk illegal, it's time to rethink the law. The problem with insider trading is that most people have no idea what it is or where the boundary lines are. [Toby] Scammell didn't, so he had to figure it out on his own.

Movie details frustration of Chasing Madoff

Boston Globe | Mark Pothier | Aug 17, 2011

Sixteen months after Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme imploded in 2008, Harry Markopolos was grinding through a media tour to promote "No One Would Listen," his book about the frustrating effort to catch a thief. Now, that tale is being retold in Chasing Madoff, a documentary film scheduled for release next week in the Boston area.... "I was like the boy that cried wolf," he says onscreen, but there was a wolf."

FCPA 2011 -- The Year of the Trial

White Collar Defense & Compliance | Michael Volkov | Aug 15, 2011

If you want to know what the Justice Department's priorities are, all you have to do is follow the resources (or as we say from the Watergate days -- follow the money).  DOJ's FCPA resources are now being allocated in large part to trial work.  That leaves less time to manage the voluntary disclosure process, to move internal investigations being conducted by outside counsel, and to wrap up cases and get all the internal approvals needed before filing a settlement or deciding not to prosecute.  The number of settlements and the fines collected have dropped significantly during this year.

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