The federal government should establish a national financial fraud registry to make it easier for prosecutors and investors to identify repeat offenders, according to a top law enforcement official, the Washington Post reported. “It is about public safety and deterrence. Financial institutions hold a place of trust, they are so interwoven in people’s lives,” said Christy Goldsmith Romero, special inspector general with the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which investigates crime at companies that received taxpayer bailouts during the global financial crisis. But “there is no easy access to information when trying to determine where to investigate.” The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), launched its own database for financial crimes today. The searchable database includes details of nearly 400 criminal convictions, guilty pleas and fines secured by SIGTARP over the past decade.
