The decrease is primarily attributable to the continuing effects of actions taken in conjunction with Clearwire's cost cutting initiatives in 2011 including lower employee-related expenses resulting from headcount reductions and outsourcing of the customer care function, reduced marketing spend, as well as decreased selling commission expense associated with our no-contract product offering which was launched at the beginning of 2012.

ENGADGET: Clearwire sees wholesale revenues dip, LTE delays as it posts a $41.3 million net loss in Q3

Like the Council of Ministers, it has been accruing power at the commission's expense.

ECONOMIST: A message for Europe

Where Lipper has no number on commission costs, the expense total is italicized.

FORBES: Hidden Expenses

But even comparing costs can get complicated: A commission-free ETF may cost more, over time, than a similar fund that requires paying a commission but has a lower expense ratio, notes Joel Dickson, senior investment strategist at Vanguard Group.

WSJ: ETFs for Investors Who Buy and Hold

And if he used campaign funds, he would have had to report the expense on Federal Election Commission forms.

WSJ: Menendez denies he was with Dominican prostitutes

Worse, it didn't own up to the spending, resulting in a slap, in the fall of 2000, from the Ontario Securities Commission, which told Pearl to expense costs as they were incurred, instead of recording them at the conclusion of a case.

FORBES: Gold Diggers

The case filed Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission tells the tale of how eager a bank was to please a potentially lucrative trading client at the expense of other investors.

FORBES: Goldman Puts Spotlight Back on Wall Street's Conflicts of Interest

Lasser's dismissal followed charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of securities fraud at Putnam, which allegedly failed to reveal trades employees conducted for personal profit and at the expense of mutual fund shareholders.

FORBES: Putnam's Fox Joins NYSE Henhouse