“The SEC might well resist such an application,” said Lance Jon Kimmel, a lawyer at the SEC Law Firm in Los Angeles. Even with a pardon, regulators may view Milken’s ban as appropriate “to defend the integrity of the securities markets.”
Blow to Prosecutors
Ripping up Milken’s conviction -- the result of arguably the highest-profile inside trading case ever -- would be a blow to federal prosecutors, particularly those overseeing Wall Street. It would also be a rebuke to the judge who oversaw the matter three decades ago and excoriated Milken at his sentencing.
“When a man of your power in the financial world, at the head of the most important department of one of the most important investment banking houses in this country, repeatedly conspires to violate, and violates, securities and tax laws in order to achieve more power and wealth for himself and his wealthy clients, and commits financial crimes that are particularly hard to detect, a significant prison term is required in order to deter others,” the judge said at Milken’s November 1990 sentencing hearing.
That judgment was delivered by U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan. Wood remains in that seat, and is now in charge of reviewing evidence seized by federal agents from Michael Cohen, Trump’s long-time personal attorney.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.