In a speech last month before the New York City Bar Association, a speech teeming with 'fire and brimstone', Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara came to speak about the 'future of white collar enforcement', and instead focused squarely on insider trading - a topic he's intimately familiar with, since his office is conducting the federal government's massive investigation, along with the FBI and SEC. 

Characterized by the Wall Street Journal as the "New Sheriff of Wall Street," Mr. Bharara believes "illegal insider trading is extremely significant and should be to everyone who cares about the protection of confidential information and the integrity of the markets."  He also says: 

• "Insider trading is rampant and may even be on the rise."

• "Unlawful insider trading should therefore be offensive to everyone who believes in, and
  relies upon, the market."

• "Disturbingly, many of the people who are going to such lengths to obtain inside
  information for a trading advantage are already among the most advantaged, privileged,
  and wealthy insiders in modern finance."

• "But for them, material non-public information is akin to a performance-enhancing drug
  that provides the illegal “edge” to outpace their rivals and make even more money."

    Bio Briefs for Preet Bharara.    Born in India, Preetinder Bharara became a naturalized U.S. citizen.  He earned Ivy League degrees from Harvard (undergrad) and Columbia (Law - 1993).  In the 1990s, MR. Bharara worked on Mark Green’s campaign for public advocate of New York.  He also worked in private practice for law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.  Mr. Bharara grew up in New Jersey and is a Bruce Springsteen fan. 

From 2000 to 2005, as Assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Mr. Bharara took on prosecutions of the Gambino and Colombo crime families, and Asian gangs in the city.  He also prosecuted securities fraud crimes.  From 2005 to 2009, Mr. Bharara served as Chief counsel to Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  In that role, he handled the congressional inquiry into the 2006 firings of several U.S. attorneys by the Bush Administration, a move critics say was politically motivated.

In 2009, Mr. Bharara was nominated by President Obama to take over as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York - an office that's typically the fed's front line for criminal probes against white collar crime and corruption. 

For further details about the man and his approach to fighting some of the perceived "ills of the market," click onto the follow:

• 10/20/10 Speech:  The Future of White collar Enforcement:  A Prosecutor's View.
• WSJournal, 11/22:  Meet the New Sheriff of Wall Street.
• CNBC's John Carney, 11/22:  Preet Bharara's Arms Race Theory of Insider Trading.