DODD, SHELBY EXAMINE MADOFF FRAUD, REQUEST INFORMATION FROM SEC

Washington, DC – Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, today announced that they are examining the reported fraud by Bernard Madoff.  In a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Christopher Cox, the Senators specified that they are reviewing how federal regulators supervised and oversaw this firm and requested documents and other information about the case.  
“The Banking Committee is examining this case to determine how so many people could have been deceived and how such a massive fraud could have gone undetected for so long,” said Dodd. “American investors deserve an explanation and the responsible parties must be held accountable.  I am hopeful that our findings will also help inform our efforts to improve regulation so that such abuses do not occur in the future.  If this financial crisis has taught us nothing else, it is that we need regulators who are committed to supervision, oversight, and protecting American investors and consumers.”
“It is critical that the Banking Committee fully understand what happened in the Madoff affair,” said Shelby. “Why was this not caught sooner?  Who is responsible?  Could the massive harm that investors suffered have been prevented?  The documents we are requesting will help us get to the bottom of this and inform our efforts at regulatory restructuring going forward. The American people expect accountability, and that is exactly what they should get.”
Click link for a copy of the letter. 

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