Global Crossings, Tyco, WorldCom, and others.
The SEC came under fire during the financial crisis for its failure to uncover Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The
SEC apparently had evidence as early as 1994 (in relation to another case) that Madoff, a former chairman of the
NASDAQ stock market who was a member of SEC advisory committees, was conducting illegal activities. Further,
On May 19, 2006, when the Securities and Exchange Commission questioned Madoff under oath, he falsely
described how he would buy and sell stock and options contracts in Europe on behalf of his clients. The SEC asked
Madoff: “Is there any documentation generated?” Madoff said yes. But the SEC failed to pursue this further.
Eventually, the SEC recommended closing the investigation “because those violations were not so serious as to
The SEC’s internal watchdog, Inspector General H. David Kotz, stated that he was so concerned about the agency’s
failure to uncover Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme that he expanded an inquiry called for by SEC Chair- man
Christopher Cox. However, in July 2010, nearly 18 months after Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was exposed, lawmakers
were still questioning how the SEC staffers who reviewed the Madoff firm and investigated fraud allegations were
The SEC has delegated certain regulatory responsibilities to the markets (e.g., NYSE or NASDAQ). In these
matters, the NYSE and NASDAQ are self-regulatory organizations. Specifically, the NYSE has primary
responsibility for the day-to-day surveillance of trading activity. It monitors specialists to ensure adequate
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms
doing business in the United States. FINRA was formed in July 2007 as a result of the merger of the National
Association of Securities Dealers’ (NASD) with the enforcement arm of the New York Stock Exchange. FINRA
As mentioned earlier, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (passed in response to the
financial crisis), gave the SEC and other regulators new powers to oversee the operations of stock markets. Among
these are rules empowering the SEC to disseminate a fiduciary standard for broker-dealers that provide personalized