When New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was earning his reputation as the “Sheriff of Wall Street” in the early 2000s clashes between state and federal regulators were common. Now, after a period of relative calm, those turf wars may be emerging again.
As state and federal regulators continue to pursue financial firms that were responsible for the financial crisis and mortgage mess and look to prosecute new fraud, squabbles are emerging over who should take the lead, whether state or federal agencies have the authority to pursue investigations, and how and if state and federal authorities should work together to pursue cases of potential fraud.
