The Church's statement:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-issu...
SEC charges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
31–40 of 232 posts
Re: SEC charges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
#32There should no longer be tax-exempt status for religious organizations that have committed so many violations for so many years. In fact I think there should be stipulations if you want to be tax exempt, like you have to have all of your finances be public so the people who give to your organization know exactly where the money is going.
I like how you just reinvented the current regulatory regime
Re: SEC charges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
#33- $5 million in fines, for - 22 years of willful reporting violations - using 13 shell companies - to conceal ownership of a $32 billion portfolio I'm sure they're gutted by this ~0.016% fine.
The SEC is, largely, a powerless bogeyman due to chronic underfunding and lack of staff. Another wonderful feature of corporate regulatory capture in the US.
So you need more staff to write down a larger fine on a piece of paper?
Re: SEC charges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Better to just get rid of the tax exempt status for religious organizations altogether. They can operate like any other non-profit and be subject to that set of rules, or they can be a regular corporation and be subject to a different set of rules. The religious exemption is a big regulatory gap that doesn't need to exist.
That exists so that the government can't just decide to tax one religion out of existence while favoring others.
I can think of other ways to keep the government from taking sides in religions
Re: SEC charges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
The SEC is, largely, a powerless bogeyman due to chronic underfunding and lack of staff. Another wonderful feature of corporate regulatory capture in the US.
So you need more staff to write down a larger fine on a piece of paper?
You need the staff to enforce it...
Re: SEC charges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
#36Here's a related random fact: Fidelity, the well-known investment firm, runs donor-advised charitable funds for rich clients that in aggregate constitute America's charity [1]. The three largest recipients from those funds? Harvard University, Stanford University, and the Mormon Church...organizations that aren't in any way hurting for money. I guess people fund what they are familiar with and for prestige. 1- https:…
I’m confused. Does this mean my retirement savings somehow benefits or is related to the LDS?
Re: SEC charges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
#37I think we really should be looking at the tax-exempt status of religious organizations have that subsidiaries that are doing their taxes and setting up shell companies to hide where money is coming/going.
I would go one step further and say that donations to religious organizations should not be tax deductible. They are not charities in 99% of the cases.
Re: SEC charges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
The SEC is, largely, a powerless bogeyman due to chronic underfunding and lack of staff. Another wonderful feature of corporate regulatory capture in the US.
So you need more staff to write down a larger fine on a piece of paper?
fine = scale of crime x (number of ppl working at SEC/1000000)
Re: SEC charges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
The SEC is, largely, a powerless bogeyman due to chronic underfunding and lack of staff. Another wonderful feature of corporate regulatory capture in the US.
So you need more staff to write down a larger fine on a piece of paper?
…yes? Because with larger fines comes larger court cases - and larger numbers of support staff.
Corporations have lobbied and purchased their way into these freedoms at the cost of our wallets and futures.
Don’t play thick. I too wish these assholes got prison time for this behavior.
Re: SEC charges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
#40- $5 million in fines, for - 22 years of willful reporting violations - using 13 shell companies - to conceal ownership of a $32 billion portfolio I'm sure they're gutted by this ~0.016% fine.
I feel worse for the whistleblower that probably reported that They thought they were going to get a much bigger payday by reporting the malfeasance of a 32 billion portfolio
You can check on the SEC homepage if their is a corresponding whistleblower award. Could be as high as 1.5 million, which is not nothing but still less than one would have assumed.