Fraud Fest 2021

Day 1

June 24, 2021
All times Pacific.

8:30 am

Live Stream Opens

9:00 am

Roadmap

A welcome and some “big picture” thoughts about financial fraud.

Frank Partnoy, Professor, University of California, Berkeley

9:10 am

Where are the Watchdogs?

Herb’s journey from journalism to activist short-selling – the watchdogs of the 2020s.

Herb Greenberg, Editor, Empire Financial Research

9:25 am

The Cult of We

A discussion with the authors of The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion.

Eliot Brown, Wall Street Journal

Maureen Farrell, Wall Street Journal

Omeed Malik, Founder and CEO, Farvahar Partners

10:10 am

Interactive Session

Conference Co-Chair Diana Henriques leads an interactive conversation with audience members and special guests.

10:40 am

Break

11:00 am

The Year in Shorting

A legendary investor explores a legendary year in short selling.

Jim Chanos, President and Founder, Kynikos Associates

11:30 am

The Year in Shorting: Academic Perspectives

Academics explore cutting-edge research on fraud detection and short selling.

Adam Badawi, University of California, Berkeley

Peter Molk, University of Florida

Howard Schilit, Schilit Forensics

Daniel Taylor, Professor, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

12:00 pm

Interactive Session

Professor Adam Badawi leads an interactive conversation with audience members and special guests.

12:30 pm

Break

1:30 pm

The Crime of the Century

An Academy Award winning filmmaker and an investigative journalist explore fraud and the opioid crisis.

Alex Gibney, The Crime of the Century

Frank Partnoy, Professor, University of California, Berkeley

Patrick Radden Keefe, EMPIRE OF PAIN: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

Race and Financial Fraud

Academics and journalists explore how issues of race impact the victims, perpetrators, and investigations of fraud.

2:15 pm

The Billionaire’s Apprentice, Revisited

Abbye Atkinson, University of California, Berkeley

Anita Raghavan, The Billionaire’s Apprentice

3:00 pm

Interactive Session

Nationally syndicated personal finance columnist for The Washington Post Michelle Singletary leads an interactive conversation about race and financial fraud.

Abbye Atkinson, University of California, Berkeley

Anita Raghavan, The Billionaire’s Apprentice

Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post

3:30 pm

Break

4:15 pm

Day One Concludes

Day 2

June 25, 2021
All times Pacific.

8:30 am

Live Stream Opens

9:00 am

New Frontiers in Activism

A discussion with an originator, a rising star and a newcomer in short-activism.

Nate Anderson, Hindenburg Research

Chris Carey, Sharesleuth

Herb Greenberg, Editor, Empire Financial Research

Linette Lopez, Business Insider

Daniel Yu, Gotham City Research

9:30 am

Digital Deceit: Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency regulations are evolving at different paces throughout the world. A discussion of the current global cryptocurrency regulatory landscape and key findings from TR upcoming report.

Todd Ehret, Thomson Reuters

Gina Jurva, Thomson Reuters

9:50 am

Digital Deceit: NFTs

Planet Money’s Mary Childs and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi discuss the frenzy over NFTs, a new way to buy digital content on the blockchain, and how they may provide fertile new ground for fraud.

Mary Childs, Co-Host, NPR’s Planet Money

Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, NPR’s Planet Money

Adam Sterling, Assistant Dean, University of California, Berkeley

10:10 am

Interactive Session

Journalist Linette Lopez leads an interactive conversation with audience members and special guests.

10:30 am

Break

10:45 am

The Great Debate: SPACs

A renowned short-seller takes on SPACs and the Deal Professor.

Carson Block, Founder, Muddy Waters Research

Steven Davidoff Solomon, University of California, Berkeley

11:15 am

Interactive Session

Professor Usha Rodrigues leads an interactive conversation with audience members and special guests.

11:35 am

Revisiting the LIBOR Prosecutions

An interview with a former trader who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for manipulating LIBOR and the journalist that covered his release.

Tom Hayes, Former Trader

Ellen Milligan, Bloomberg

12:05 pm

Break

12:55 pm

Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free

Why do so few people who commit financial fraud go to jail? What are the flaws in our approach to federal criminal law? A leading commentator on corporate fraud asks Judge Rakoff about the unsettling insights of his new book and the challenges that face judges and prosecutors today.

Bethany McLean, Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair

Jed Rakoff, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

1:25 pm

New Frontiers in Tax Fraud

Have we entered a golden age of tax cheating? The IRS budget and audit rates of the wealthy have collapsed. Enforcement has fallen off with few high-profile tax evasion prosecutions. This panel will discuss why this has happened, and whether the rich are evading taxes, avoiding taxes, or paying their fair share.

Jesse Eisinger, Senior Editor, ProPublica

Erika Kelton, Partner, Phillips & Cohen

Mark Matthews, Caplin & Drysdale

Toni Weirauch, BDO

1:55 pm

Kleptopia!

What is the state of global money laundering in 2021?

Tom Burgis, Financial Times

Alexandra Wrage, TRACE International

2:25 pm

Interactive Session

Conference Co-Chair Herb Greenberg leads an interactive conversation with audience members and special guests.

2:55 pm

The Caesars Palace Coup

A discussion with the author of The Caesars Palace Coup: How a Billionaire Brawl Over the Famous Casino Exposed the Power and Greed of Wall Street.

Kenneth Ayotte, University of California, Berkeley

Sujeet Indap, Financial Times