After spending a decade in finance, Michael Volpe has been a freelance investigative journalist since 2009. His work has been published locally in the Chicago Reader, Chicago Crusader, Chicago Heights Patch, and New City. Nationally, Volpe's work has appeared in a wide variety of publications including the Washington Examiner, the Daily Caller, Crime Magazine, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Newsletter, and Counter Punch. Volpe has been recognized by whistleblowers as leading the charge in getting their stories out. His first book Prosecutors Gone Wild was published in October 2012, his second book The Definitive Dossier of PTSD in Whistleblowers was published in February 2013 and his third book Bullied to Death was published in August 2015.

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CME Disciplinary Action Raises Eyebrows

A recent CME disciplinary citation is noteworthy for what was missing and raises the specter that the exchange is playing favorites. On December 21, 2017, the CME Group issued a disciplinary action against a trader,…

FHFA Mandates More CRTs in 2018

The regulator making most of the decisions for the two Government Sponsored Entities (GSE) released its outlook for 2018, and the credit risk transfer program will play a critical role. The Federal Housing Finance Authority…

US Department of Justice

Indictment in Enron-Like Accounting Fraud Case

Another indictment was handed down in a burgeoning accounting fraud which harkens back to Enron. Edward DiMaria is the former Chief Financial Officer at Bankrate Inc. He is charged “in an indictment unsealed today for…

Currency Hyper-Deflation Is Not Necessarily Good

The whole bitcoin craze may be happening based on the faulty assumption that currency hyper-deflation is any better than currency hyper-inflation. A historic primer: Immediately after World War 1 and continuing into the mid-1920s, the…

CBO Gives Thumbs Up to CRT Markets

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gave a thumbs up to the mortgage Credit Risk Transfer market. The primary function of the CBO is to “score bills”, a process by which the office predicts the effect…

Bitcoin is a Fad, and That’s a Problem

Crypto-currencies are all the rage and that’s a problem. The Fad Problem In August, The Industry Spread warned, “If it’s a fad, it’s a problem,” when analyzing whether or not crypto-currency was in a bubble.…

Fiduciary Rule Repeal Bill Scored by CBO

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has scored a bill which would repeal the controversial fiduciary rule. The Protecting Advice for Small Savers (PASS) Act received its CBO scoring, and the CBO believes it will have…

CFTC Staffers Explain How New Bitcoin Product Was Approved

In the latest Commodities Futures Trading Commission podcast, several CFTC staffers discussed how the CME and CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) bitcoin futures got approved. [caption id="attachment_185786" align="alignleft" width="127"] Andrew Busch, Chief Market Intelligence Officer for…

Paths to Mortgage Securitization Reform Discussed in House

While mortgage securitization is critical to house financing reform, the path to get there remains a matter of debate. The House Financial Services Committee has touted two different proposals. One was put forward by the…