You can't read the whole article without a subscription, but Law360 is reporting that SEC employees and contractors may have lost (or had stolen) HUNDREDS of laptops.
The article states that the information on the computers could be used for insider trading. While I suppose that is possible, given the fact that the SEC investigates events after they happen, not before, that is doubtful. The real concern is the personal financial information that is undoubtedly on those computers as part of pending investigations. Brokerage account statements, new account forms, tax returns, you name it, they have it.
Keep this in mind when you think about FINRA and the SEC seeking permission to collect, in nearly real time, trading and holdings information from the accounts of individual customers, without their permission.
Do you trust FINRA and the SEC to keep everyone's personal financial information confidential?
And another question - how do you "lose" hundreds of computers?
For more information visit Hundreds Of SEC Laptops May Be Missing, Watchdog Says - Law360
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