Ed Markey: “Mr. Chairman, the cover of NewsWeek just out tells the story: ``The boy who lost a billion dollars, Nick Leeson, the…”

“Mr. Chairman, the cover of NewsWeek just out tells the story: ``The boy who lost a billion dollars, Nick Leeson, the 28-year-old trader who bankrupted England's oldest investment firm.'' Now, Nick Leeson is an interesting case. It is not directly on point here, except to the extent to which there are Nick Leesons out there and they do prey upon innocent investors, they do engage in practices that risk the life savings of individuals who believe that the holding out, the representation made by the S&L, is in fact accurate. Now, with the Dow-Jones Industrial Average rising to 4,000 this week, there is unprecedented confidence in the American marketplace, that it is honest and efficient, but honest above all. That is what our American laws have given assurances to the rest of the world over the last 60 years. If you go to Singapore, if you go to England, if you go to any other place in the world, you go to a country that has lower standards than our country. It is this system of laws which we have put in place which has given the reason for individual investors to look at the thousands of companies which we have, take their savings and put them into these companies that have allowed our Dow-Jones Industrial Average to rise to 4,000. That is what we should be extremely cautious about as we deal with this issue here today. Our system works.…”