Bernie Madoff Essay

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Bernie Madoff ran one of the largest Ponzi Schemes in United States and although it was investigated many times by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), he was not caught until his confession in 2008. The timeline of the evidence submitted and the investigations that were actually done was staggering, and have left more questions than answers found.
Bernie Madoff was born to Ralph and Sylvia Madoff in 1938. He married Ruth Alpern in 1959. Together the couple had two sons: Mark (1964-2010) and Andrew (1966-2014). Madoff earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and enrolled in law school, which he did not finish. He and his wife founded a Wall Street firm called Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC in 1960. His business …show more content…

The SEC is charged with enforcing four main laws. To prevent fraud, the SEC is supposed to enforce the Securities Act of 1933, which requires mandatory public disclosure of pertinent information to investors, also known as the “Blue Sky Laws”. The second one under preventing fraud is the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which governs securities already issued. Then there are two more that would apply to Madoff. These laws allow prosecution of people who manage other people’s money, they are the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940. These two laws monitor and regulate the activities of investment advisors and regulates and impacts the operations of hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity funds and the holding companies.
Some people have speculated that the SEC is overworked and underfunded, while others think there is corruption or that the SEC is ineffective, inefficient and just missed all the “Red Flags”. While a conclusion will not be drawn here, many of these ideas can apply as the information is laid out within the time line of investigations. During an interview with Madoff, he said he was astounded he was not caught by the SEC earlier, and that each of their investigations were just one step away from catching him in his lies (Fortune Editors,

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