Artwork Purchases And Charitable Donations Cited In FINRA Settlement

If nothing else, Wall Street's reputation over the years has been that of a high-end frat house for overpaid and under-regulated boys. The excesses of the industry's wunderkinder is now the stuff of movies and legend. Drugs. Hookers. Boom Boom rooms. Over-the-top Super Bowl parties. Over-the-edge office renovations. Feel free to add your own sordid examples. If you buy into the public relations campaign orchestrated by those in power, you're supposed to believe that Wall Street's days of excess are behind us -- dead and buried with all those pennystock shops on Long Island and in Florida. You're also supposed to believe that the last shovel of dirt was tossed on Wall Street's grave after the Armageddon of the Great Recession. Hey, you know, whatever floats your boat: believe what you want.  A recent FINRA regulatory settlement suggests that we may now be in an era of more refined, how should I politely put it?, "excess." Witness over a half-a-million-bucks in charitable donations. Witness six-figures in art purchases. And then there is FINRA's curious decision to give us the corporate titles of those involved but not their names. READ