The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "exchange" ...
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Dark Markets
The Wall Street Journal’s coverage of financial markets in 2012 performed a rare and extraordinary service: It exposed evidence of hidden manipulation by corporate executives and professional traders that the markets’ official government watchdogs were utterly unaware of. Reflecting potential widespread harm to millions of ordinary investors, federal prosecutors and securities regulators raced to follow the Journal stories with major investigations. A team of reporters spent six months creating a database examining how more than 20,000 corporate executives traded their own companies’ stocks over the course of eight years. What the team found was disturbing: More than 1,000 executives had generated big profits, or avoided big losses, by trading their company stock in the days ahead of corporate news announcements that led to big moves in the shares. The Journal also exposed a regulatory loophole that had helped the executives take advantage of inside knowledge ahead of other investors. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office and the Securities and Exchange Commission all launched investigations the day the Journal article appeared.
Tags: Financial markets; corporate executives; stocks; Federal Bureau of Investigation
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D.C. Tax Office Scandal
The District of Columbia struck an unprecedented number of deals behind closed doors this year with prominent commercial property owners who had appealed their tax assessments, reducing the city's tax base by $2.6 billion. The settlements were kept from the public for months until The Washington Post started mining public records and filing FOIAs, which the city routinely denied until the newspaper's lawyers got involved. The Post also learned that city leaders had kept critical internal audits about the tax office in "draft" format to prevent their release under FOIA. Through sources, The Post obtained the undisclosed reports -- along with a dozen other audits that had been kept from public view -- and published the findings for the first time. The series prompted the City Council to change the law to require the tax office to immediately make public all of its reports -- bringing a new level of transparency to a once secretive agency. The Securities and Exchange Commission also launched a probe to see if the city had kept critical findings from audits used to determine bond ratings. The inquiry is ongoing.
Tags: tax fraud; taxes; taxpayers; tax office
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"Black Money"
This investigative report reveals that a "trillion dollars in bribes," are paid each year regardless of an international anti-bribery treaty that is in place. The bribes, also known as "black money," are used by "multinational companies" to get overseas business. The bribes cause a break in the "stability of governments" and "distort the marketplace."
Tags: Margaret Thatcher; British Aerospace; Department of Justice; Saudi Arabia; bribery; bribes; World Bank; Securities and Exchange Commission; Jimmy Carter
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Goldman Sachs: Low Road to High Finance
After the collapse of the financial market in the United States, there were many key components which played a large role in the devastation to many Americans. These key components mainly focus on major financial institutions, which played a large role in manipulating the mortgage and mortgage security markets. Furthermore, the institutions that should be keeping them honest, failed to do so.
Tags: Nation's financial sector; financial institutions; mortgage; market; American International Group (AIG); Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Moody's; Securities and Exchange Commission; Citigroup, Inc.; Bank of America Corp.
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Cause of Death: Negotiable
This investigation focused on the practice of a death investigator in Bosnia. Despite questions of his practice, he continued to work and was documented soliciting money in exchange for favorable cause of death findings.
Tags: forensics; death investigation; bribery; evidence tampering; Zeljko Karan;
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Dark Market
"The story examined 30 percent of the commodity futures markets for oil that trade without regulation. We examined how these markets may have played a role in bumping up the price of oil over the summer of 2008."
Tags: gasoline; Intercontinental Exchange; ICE; Trading Commission; barrel; premium price;
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WAMU: Inside The Collapse
It's October 2008: major banks are failing, Congress is bailing them out with taxpayer dollars. The public deserves to know how we got into the mess. ABC News Nightline's "Inside the Collapse" was first to expose a top-down, company-wide reckless lending strategy that led to the biggest bank failure in U.S. history: Washington Mutual Bank. Senior Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas got inside Washington Mutual's culture and uncovered what really went wrong using original reporting, an exclusive whistleblower interview, a video of a jubilant company party, exclusive internal company documents, former employee interviews and victim interviews. His piece, as well as a follow-up on World news with Charles Gibson and articles on ABCNews.com, caught the attention of law enforcement. Two days after the piece aired, federal prosecutors announced that because of "intense public interest" they were investigating the bank's activities with assistance from the FBI, FDIC, SEC and IRS. The story was widely reported in the national media in the following weeks.
Tags: Washington Mutual; Securities and Exchange Commission; Internal Revenue Service; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; FDIC; Federal Bureau of Investigation; economics
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Fees on 401(k)s Rock Boomers Facing Flawed Disclosure
Although 50 million people in the United States have retirement savings in 401(k) plans, almost no one understands how much they are paying for them and how much money they may be losing in hidden fees. Most modern-day retirement plans have as many as 17 different fees, most of which are not disclosed to employees.
Tags: retirement; money; savings; securities and exchange commission; finance; stock market; fees
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King of the Club
"The book chronicles the rise and fall of one of Wall Street's most powerful leaders, Richard Grasso, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange."
Tags: stock exchange; Wall Street; leader; stocks and bonds; American Dream; chairman; investments; economy
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Feasting on the Spoils
A biographical look at former U.S. Congressman Randy “Duke†Cunningham, one of the most corrupt members of Congress this nation has ever seen. Cunningham pleaded guilty to accepting more than $2.4 million in bribes that came from defense contractors in exchange for political favors.
Tags: Defense Appropriations; House Intelligence Committee; Navy; CIA;