TPMMuckraker
Wall Street: October 2009

SEC-er To Madoff: "It's A Big Organization, We Don't Talk To Each Other"

Zachary Roth | October 30, 2009, 7:08PM

During a 2006 examination, an SEC staffer asked Bernie Madoff for information. Madoff replied that he had already provided it to a top agency official. To which the SEC-er responded: "It's a big organization, we don't talk to each other."

That's according to Madoff's testimony to SEC investigators. The agency's inspector general's office has just released documents that were part of its probe into its failures on the Madoff affair. And they further the picture of a regulator at which the right hand didn't know what the left was doing, and which depended on inexperienced and over-matched agents to sniff out complex financial frauds like Madoff's.

You can see all the documents here. And you can see Madoff's testimony here.

Let us know in comments about anything else that jumps out.

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Topics: Bernard Madoff, Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street

Bernard Madoff

Failing Upward: Many SECers Who Failed To Catch Madoff Haven't Paid A Price

Alex Amend | October 13, 2009, 9:49AM

Ever wonder what happened to the SEC staffers and supervisors who, for nearly two decades, managed to miss Bernie Madoff's multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme, despite a persistent whistle-blower and multiple inquiries -- a monumental level of incompetence that "astonished" even Madoff himself?

Well, some saw their failures rewarded with high-paying private-sector jobs, while others are still at the agency, charged with catching the next Madoff.

Via CNN, here's a quick look at what happened to some of the major players.