The options debacle helped drive a 24% increase last year in arbitration cases filed with the National Association of Securities Dealers to a record 6, 915.

FORBES: Out of Options

What is more, while they agreed not to disparage the settlement publicly, each reserved the right to contest regulators' findings during legal proceedings and securities arbitrations, a record 1, 463 of which were filed in the first two months of the year.

FORBES: Where's WorldCom?

Kevin Logan, chief U.S. economist with HSBC Securities, says the ineffective track record of Congress these days presents a very real possibility of another downgrade for U.S. debt in the future.

FORBES: Even As Treasuries Go Higher, Downgrade Fears Return

No one wants to buy that, and Yingling says, if banks have to record the current value of these securities on their balance sheets, they end up taking huge loses.

NPR: SEC Changes On The Table

For the record, when the Fed buys government securities in the market (yes, through dealers, of which Goldman Sachs is one), the ultimate seller gives up a highly liquid asset (government securities), which are not classified as money, for bank deposits, only slightly more liquid, which are classified as money.

FORBES: The Cartoon View Of Quantitative Easing: Too Dumb Is Clever

The raters' disastrous record in evaluating the soundness of packages of mortgage-backed securities and other exotic financial instruments is well known.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

So far, the joint effort between the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission has produced nearly 70 guilty verdicts, a perfect record of convictions in criminal cases that have gone to trial, and millions of dollars in penalties.

FORBES: The Top Court Cases Of 2012

The Order found that the NYSE violated Rule 603(a) of Regulation NMS and the record retention provisions of Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 17a-1, and NYSE Euronext, which supplied the personnel responsible for these systems and compliance, caused the violations.

FORBES: Historic SEC Order Slams NYSE For Data Violations

The Bernanke Fed has been characterized by an aggressive attack on Treasury yields through all possible means: zero-bound interest rates with a pledge to keep them at record-lows for years to come, purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities through several programs of quantitative easing (QE), and a maturity extension program dubbed Operation Twist that should push longer-term rates even lower.

FORBES: Romney's Defeat Means Treasuries May Fall Below 1.5% On Fiscal Cliff And Bernanke