March 15, 2006
I sincerely hope the commission acts on your very accurate report. I am 41 years old and the former owner/CEO of a small NASD Member broker dealer in midtown Manhattan (The Thornwater Company, L.P.) we employed 30 people, specializing in doing private placements and firm commitment micro cap underwritings on the NASDAQ SC. ($6-7 million per) My Wall Street career started in 1984 and I ended it in "good standing", in 1999 for 1 reason the regulatory environment is far too hostile and costly. Why should anyone care? I raised tens of millions of dollars for micro-cap/small companies, in every instance these companies were actively hiring people to grow their business.
What has happened to small companies since SBOX was implemented is that an already difficult environment has become a disaster. All in a response to the Jeff Skillings of the world (who in my opinion, looks like someone not to be trusted from a mile away).
PS: One of the FAA's answer's to the events of 9/11, now has old lady's and pregnant Mom's taking their shoes off and getting frisked at airports.