Posted on 01/27/2009 12:52:21 AM PST by CutePuppy
Several top U.S. securities enforcement officials will testify at a Congressional hearing into Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud, the Senate Banking Committee said Monday.
The committee has called for testimony by the Securities and Exchange Commission's director of enforcement, Linda Thomsen, and the SEC's director of compliance, inspections and examinations, Lori Richards.
It has also asked Stephen Luparello, the interim CEO of broker-dealer watchdog the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, to testify. Both regulators have been criticized for missing one of the largest investment frauds in history.
Incoming SEC chairman, Mary Schapiro, who was previously FINRA's chief executive, has said FINRA did not have the authority to inspect Madoff's investment advisory services, where the fraud allegedly took place.
Tuesday's hearing will be first time Congress will have a chance to directly question key regulators.
The Senate Banking Committee has asked the SEC to hand over streams of documents, including agency e-mails, complaint letters and other reports related to Madoff.
The House Financial Services Committee already held a hearing to explore why the SEC missed red flags and why it did not follow up on tips from one of Madoff's competitors.
FINRA is asking broker-dealers whether it referred any of its customers to Madoff's brokerage or any investment or service offered by the firm he managed, according to a document obtained by Reuters.
In a five-page letter, FINRA asked broker-dealers to provide all correspondence with Madoff employees. It also requested proof that the firms conducted due diligence on Madoff's business.
The SEC's internal watchdog is investigating whether that agency acted appropriately in the matter.
Stephen Harbeck, president of Securities Investor Protection Corp, has been invited to testify at Tuesday's hearing. SIPC is a nonprofit agency set up by Congress to help clients of failed brokerages.
Madoff's "Ponzi" scheme may be one of the largest in history, harming thousands of investors, including high-profile victims such as Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Fred Wilpon, and Kevin Bacon.
Created in 2007 through the consolidation of NASD and NYSE Member Regulation, FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business—from registering and educating industry participants, to conducting examinations of securities firms; writing rules that govern the conduct of the industry; enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws; informing and educating the investing public; providing trade reporting and other industry utilities; and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and registered firms. .... Mary L. Schapiro is CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business with the U.S. public. Ms. Schapiro also serves as Chairman of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, the largest foundation in the U.S. dedicated to investor education.
PING
It's W's fault.
We did everything we could.
Madoff is a 'rat and thus not guilty.
We'll just increase out budget and that will fix it.
I need a promotino so I can apply the knowledge I've learned through this experience.
More 0be mumbo jumbo here.
MAdof’s only sin is to have acted as a Maverick. Had he used the funds for ACORN, he’d be a hero. Blago’s a bit in the same situation.
China’s reinvesting in the US for revolution via Acorn subprime loans. Rinos are in the tank in this scheme for China trade treason, so they won’t talk about this communist Ponzi scheme.
He is a "hero"... He was one of the bigger donors to Democrats that we know of (legally), and possibly even bigger one outside of legal channels. Money laundering and "offshoring" of funds for his clients is strongly suspected. How else could he get away with running a massive pyramid / Ponzi scheme for several decades, even when "investigated" and "audited" several times by SEC bureaucrats, with barely a slap on the wrist for "technical violations"?
AMEN!!!! His INVESTORS have been paid along the way.....ALL RATS.
I guess he were a buddying socialist, now it is more Marxist and “community organization” oriented... for what it is worth.
It’s a nice PC cover up of the ACORN thing anyways.
We need more money.
I need a larger staff.
And a promotion.
Besides, I retire at 54 in a year.
Thank you Congressmen. I’ll write a report, that will go in a folder, that will be placed on a shelf, in a room, on a floor in a building.
Niiiice. Well, she’ll have multiple opportunities to perjure herself today.
Blago is another scapegoat too.
Both are doing the dance as they already know the lives of their families are at stake.....that's how it works.
It's The Dog and P0ny show take 28,651. Both will get relatively a slap on the wrists, about 3 years actually served in a luxury fed pen after off shore money is paid in bribes
It's W's fault.
We did everything we could.
Madoff is a 'rat and thus not guilty.
We'll just increase out budget and that will fix it.
I need a promotinon so I can apply the knowledge I've learned through this experience.
More 0be mumbo jumbo here.
You forgot "Turbo tax" software.
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