Ted Kaufman Quotes

The financial crisis is a stark reminder that transparency and disclosure are essential in today's marketplace.

It should strengthen investors' confidence. This is done through transparency, high quality financial reports, and a standardized economic market. This is not just for China, but also for the world market as a whole.

For years, critics of Fannie Mae have warned that it does not give them enough information to judge its risks.

Sweeping privilege against disclosure is…contrary to a sound public policy…It is a small step to assert a privilege against any disclosure of records merely because they might prove embarrassing.

I hope we’re on the road to more truth-telling to investors.

Bureaucracy always seeks the path of least disclosure.

From now on, the government has to make its accounts public on a quarterly basis.

Do we have to regulate derivatives? Yes, we do. 'Cause when I did this in my investments, frankly, no one knew who could pay who. But derivatives have an important place in our economy.

As we try to make the financial system safer, we must inevitably confront the problem of moral hazard.

Bailing out every bank that fails makes the system riskier, not safer.

Respect public investors and treat them as partners and important constituents.

I think the market should reward banks that have been transparent in recognising their problems. I think the tendency of banks to hide the problem assets over a period of three or four years should not be allowed.

I don't like conflicts of interest; they should be eliminated or disclosed. I believe in transparency: that people have to really not just know but understand what they're buying and selling.

Openness is the natural enemy of arbitrariness.

The people have the right to know what their Agents are doing or have done, and it should not be in the option of the Legislature to conceal their proceedings.

Public disclosure is one of the great disinfectants ever invented.

Government will have to learn what private businesses are beginning to realize that in this increasingly transparent world, the successful organizations will be those that are able to operate with very few secrets…. The cost of maintaining secrecy is getting higher and higher even when it can be done at all.

Government is the creature of the people, and that which they have created they surely have a right to examine.

Fannie Mae may have conformed to the rules but the rules didn’t conform to reality. A major bank or financial institution could meet every single regulatory requirement yet still be at the risk of collapse.

The best system is the most accountable and transparent system

The future will find one of its great problems is deciding how big a business enterprise must become before the public is entitled to know the full details of its management.

I think people have to be very careful with new ideas [in fiancé and economics]. What you need to worry about is when you have something that’s a really good idea, but you get too much of it too fast, like over-the-counter derivatives.

Usually the public is better off with more information than less. That includes information the government would like to keep quiet.

Most leaks from large bureaucracies are “good” leaks: no danger to national security, no harm to innocent people, information the public ought to know.

To Any Officer or Employee of the Government: Please tell Mr. Lincoln Steffens anything whatever about the government that you know (not incompatible with the public interest) and provided only that you tell him the truth—no matter what it might be—I will see to it that you are not hurt. T. Roosevelt.