The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

To get a sense of how slowly the regulatory wheels are grinding here, let's look at the case of LRG Restaurant Group.

In May 1998, the SEC filed a complaint against LRG alleging that the "restaurant and natural resourced properties business" failed to file timely financial statements, or even notifications of late filing.

At that time, LRG -- as far as we can tell from the SEC's Edgar archive -- had last filed a quarterly financial statement in October 1996.

So what did LRG do in response to the SEC's complaint? Nothing. That 1996 10-Q, now nearly eight years old, is the last filing LRG made with the SEC, as far as we can tell. And yet, for the six years since the SEC's original complaint, LRG has continued to be quoted -- and, presumably traded -- by people for who knows what reason.

An SEC spokesman explains that in this week's actions, the goal has gone from not simply encouraging companies to file financials, to also preventing these companies' shares from being traded if they don't -- a move that protects the broad class of potential investors in these companies.

"The agency is examining a number of things it does, and trying to anticipate problems before they occur," says the spokesman. "And this was a pre-emptive effort to deter frauds before they occur."

Better late than never, we suppose.

4. An Escaped Croat for Symbol's Sins

Over at Symbol Technologies (SBL Quote), the saga continues.

Five former managers of the bar code-scanner manufacturer have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, reports the Associated Press. The company itself has agreed to pay $139 million in fines and restitution stemming from allegations of accounting fraud from 1998 to 2003.

And on Wednesday, Symbol's former CEO, Tomo Razmilovic, was officially declared a fugitive from justice, reports the AP. The Feds want him in the U.S. to face fraud charges, but prosecutors say he's in his native Croatia. His lawyer says he's not coming back, says the AP.