USA: the SEC's failure to uncover Madoff's ponzi scheme - OIG report

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) - an independent office within the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) responsible for auditing and investigating the SEC's operations - has published the results of its investigation into the SEC's failure to uncover Bernard Madoff's ponzi scheme. A full report will be published shortly. Meanwhile, an executive summary has been published in which the OIG states:

The OIG investigation did not find evidence that any SEC personnel who worked on an SEC examination or investigation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC (BMIS) had any financial or other inappropriate connection with Bernard Madoff or the Madoff family that influenced the conduct of their examination or investigatory work ... The OIG investigation did find, however, that the SEC received more than ample information in the form of detailed and substantive complaints over the years to warrant a thorough and comprehensive examination and/or investigation of Bernard Madoff and BMIS for operating a Ponzi scheme, and that despite three examinations and two investigations being conducted, a thorough and competent investigation or examination was never performed".

The response of the SEC chairman, Mary Schapiro, highlights some of the reforms that the SEC has taken and is available here.