Ten Take Aways from Our Trading Summit
November 18, 2009 @ 10:57 PM | By Kerry MassaroI just got back from Advanced Trading’s fourth Buy Side Trading Summit. And although the event is off the record (no reporting using traders' or company names — a way to ensure the buy side feels free to open up —) I figured I’d share the top general takeouts from the event.
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Catching Up On OTC Derivatives Reform
November 11, 2009 @ 10:20 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenI’ve been catching up on my reading about OTC derivatives reform bills that were passed by the House Financial services and Agricultural committees last month. Though I am a little behind, I’ve concluded that not much has changed except that regulators really want to mandate clearing and trading on exchanges (or alternative swap execution facilities) to bring transparency into the market and save taxpayers a fortune from bailing out the banks again. At the same time, industry participants are worried about unintended consequences of these reforms.
Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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London Stock Exchange Crashes Again
November 10, 2009 @ 10:22 AM | By Kerry MassaroThe London Stock Exchange crashed yesterday due to a technical problem related to a server. The outage affected one in twelve stocks for 40 minutes from 3:04 until the market closed. Check out this story on the outage.)
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Madoff's Ex-Auditor Pleads Guilty
November 04, 2009 @ 08:41 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenDavid Friehling, the accountant who audited Bernard Madoff’s books, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday. Friehling claimed he was unaware of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme even though he served as an independent auditor for Madoff’s money management business from 1991-to 2008. He told the judge that his biggest mistake was trusting Madoff, according to CNBC.
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Wall Street Bands Rock Out for Charity
October 29, 2009 @ 09:23 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenDespite the tough environment for fundraising, Wall Street employees are still finding ways to give back to their communities. Tonight, mortgage traders and other fixed income professionals who play in Wall Street bands are hoping to have fun and raise a ton of money.
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Liquidnet In Rwanda
October 29, 2009 @ 09:20 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenThere are many other examples of charitable works driven by Wall Street employees. Check out the amazing work that global electronic marketplace Liquidnet is doing in Rwanda, where it’s the primary corporate partner developing the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), an innovative concept to help traumatized orphans caught in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
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ITG Testifies at SEC Hearing on Dark Pools, Etc
October 28, 2009 @ 10:51 AM | By Kerry MassaroBob Gasser, CEO, of ITG is testifying today before the Senate Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs on the topic of dark pools, flash orders, high frequency trading and other market structure issues.
His testimony can be read :
http://www.itg.com/news_events/Senate_Testimony_102809.pdf
Topics: dark pools
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Madoff Friend Jeffrey Picower Takes Secrets to His Grave
October 27, 2009 @ 12:03 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenBernard Madoff’s billionaire friend Jeffry Picower, who was found dead at the bottom of a pool on Sunday at his Palm Beach mansion, was the biggest beneficiary of the Madoff scam, according to this ABC News video report.
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Madoff Workplace Allegedly Rife with Cocaine, Sex
October 22, 2009 @ 09:16 AM | By Kerry MassaroAnd the saga continues. CNN's Chloe Melas reports on a recent lawsuit filed by former Madoff investors claiming that "Madoff's workplace was rife with cocaine and sex." The 264-page law suit claims Madoff "financed a cocaine-fueled work environment and a "culture of sexual deviance."" The complaint alleges Bernard Madoff Investment Services was known by insiders as the ""North Pole", in reference to the excessive amount of cocaine use in the work place." The law suit also
claims that "Madoff diverted money to his London, England, office when he believed federal authorities were closing in at home."
Topics: fraud
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Schumer/Niederauer Call on Regulators to Create Level Playing Field for Dark Pools and Exchanges
October 20, 2009 @ 11:35 AM | By Kerry MassaroA media advisory from Senator Charles Schumer’s (D-NY) office was released today announcing that he will hold a conference call with Duncan Niederauer, CEO of NYSE Euronext today at 12:30 to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission to institute a series of reforms to better regulate dark pools.
Continue reading " Schumer/Niederauer Call on Regulators to Create Level Playing Field for Dark Pools and Exchanges..."Topics: Regulations
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Revelations from Book "Too Big To Fail"
October 20, 2009 @ 10:59 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenNew York Times Reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin discussed his new book “Too Big To Fail” with CNBC today in which he discloses some behind-the-scenes conversations that took place at Goldman Sachs and at Lehman Brothers when Wall Street was forced to work with Washington to save the banking system.
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Penson's Letter To SEC On Matt Taibbi
October 07, 2009 @ 04:29 PM | By Kerry MassaroCheck out this developing story on Penson Financial Services, which was accused of a serious securities law violation (approving a large naked short) by Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi. Penson wrote a letter to the SEC denying any wrong doing.
Here is a story that appeared in The Business Insider that recounts what happened.
Topics: fraud
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Speculating on Ken Lewis's Successor
October 01, 2009 @ 11:16 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenWith all the talk about Bank of America’s controversial CEO Ken Lewis announcing that he will step down at the end of the year, media outlets are speculating on the succession race. Will BofA stick to its traditional roots by naming a banker, or will it go outside and bring in a Wall Street executive, perhaps with ties to Merrill Lynch?
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DirectEdge's New Data Center
October 01, 2009 @ 10:59 AM | By Kerry MassaroAs DirectEdge plans to roll out two new next gen trading platforms, it sent the below note to it's users:
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HSBC Renews Focus on Emerging Markets
September 29, 2009 @ 10:07 AM | By Kerry MassaroHSBC Asia-Pacific CEO Sandy Flockhart discusses the firm's management restructure in order to further develop the banks focus on emerging markets and China.
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High Frequency Traders Provide Liquidity in Current Rally, Says Author
September 22, 2009 @ 11:26 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenWhat impact is computer-driven, high frequency trading having on the current stock market rally? Yesterday, Rishi Narang, author of "Inside the Black Box," a new book on quantitative trading, told the Wall Street Journal in a video interview “Taking Stock of Quants in Rally” that computer-driven, high frequency traders are providing liquidity in the current rally and they are on the other side of transactions with the pension funds and real money asset managers.
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Eliot Spitzer on How Banks Have Spent Taxpayers' Money
September 15, 2009 @ 12:21 PM | By Kerry MassaroFormer Governor Eliot Spitzer talks with CNN's John Roberts on the economy and Wall Street. Spitzer says not enough has been done since Lehman failed a year ago, likening what has transpired so far to moving deck chairs on the ship of the Titanic and not actually doing anything at a regulatory level that will change the system.
Topics: Regulations
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One Year Later: An Insider's View of Lehman’s Collapse
September 14, 2009 @ 01:07 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenA former Lehman Brothers bond trader, Lawrence MacDonald, offers his take on why the firm should not have collapsed, in a story posted on Yahoo’s news site.
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Video: Future of Lehman In Europe
September 14, 2009 @ 10:15 AM | By Kerry MassaroI watched an interesting and indepth video interview on CNN this morning that is worth watching. Tony Lomas, Lehman Brothers Int'l Administrator talks to CNN's Jim Boulden about many of the decisions made by Lehman Europe one year ago and what has transpired over the year.
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Lehman: One Year Later
September 14, 2009 @ 10:07 AM | By Kerry MassaroCheck out a recent video on CNN which discusses lessons learned from the collapse of Lehman Brothers one year ago. One says Lehman wasn't too big to fail, it was too big to succeed. The CNN video can be seen here
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93 Year Old Still Trading
September 03, 2009 @ 12:57 PM | By Kerry MassaroCheck out this video of trader Paul Dannebaum on CNN. He's 93 years old, still doing push ups and trading out of his Del Ray Beach home.
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Catching Up with Portware’s Harrell Smith
September 03, 2009 @ 12:25 PM | By Kerry MassaroI caught up with Harrell Smith, Head of Product Strategy for Portware yesterday. We chatted about the world of high frequency trading, of course, as well as what Portware is working on in the coming months. The company has a lot on its plate and according to Harrell, has experienced 40% growth this year despite the woes that most other technology and trading firms are experiencing. That growth is coming from smaller proprietary shops as well as larger sell side institutions. In fact, Harrell said Portware has recently signed on a European-based bulge bracket broker-dealer, which has helped to propel the firm’s growth. He was not at liberty to disclose the firms name until the fall.
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Madoff Used SEC Incompetence to Lure Investors
September 03, 2009 @ 11:04 AM | By Cristina McEachern GibbsIt was pretty obvious that SEC Inspector General David Kotz’s internal review of the agency’s missteps around the Madoff fraud wasn’t going to be pretty. But when the executive summary was released yesterday I couldn’t pull myself away.
The details around how exactly the SEC botched each individual complaint it received about Madoff and his questionable practices were very interesting. Particularly that every time they were set to ask an outside third party for trade or counter party verification for some reason the documents were never sent.
Several times they never got out the door and if they had, if one person had actually sent the document they were supposed to send, the fraud would have easily been uncovered years ago.
But what also caught my eye and was surprisingly damaging to the agency’s reputation I would think was the part about how Madoff used the fact that the SEC had investigated his firm and found nothing to then assure investors their money would be safe.
He knowingly used the fact that the SEC had been in and examined his firm and did not detect any fraud to allay investor fears. And apparently they bought it—it’s a government regulatory agency charged with protecting investors, of course they bought it.
According to the executive summary, “We also found that investors who may have been uncertain about whether to invest with Madoff were reassured by the fact that the SEC had investigated and/or examined Madoff, or entities that did business with Madoff, and found no evidence of fraud.”
And even better, “Moreover, we found that Madoff proactively informed potential investors that the SEC had examined his operations. When potential investors expressed hesitation about investing with Madoff, he cited the prior SEC examinations to establish credibility and allay suspicions or investor doubts that may have arisen while due diligence was being conducted.”
So he was playing into the investor confidence in a government regulatory agency to do its job and its due diligence. The summary continues, “Thus, the fact the SEC had conducted examinations and investigations and did not detect the fraud, lent credibility to Madoff’s operations and had the effect of encouraging additional individuals and entities to invest with him.”
As feeder funds are being shredded to bits in the press and by investors for not doing their due diligence it will be interesting to see how the SEC fares after this revelation. Lawsuits are popping up left and right against these feeder funds. Even the state of Massachusetts is suing one of the biggest feeder funds, Fairfield Greenwich Advisors, for fraud.
It seems the SEC did not do its due diligence either and investors were the victims. Now it’s out in the open. Could there be other repercussions for the agency?
Topics: Cristina McEachern
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Wedbush's Bell On Sponsored Access: Put the Risk Controls Everywhere
September 01, 2009 @ 10:21 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenWith the practice of sponsored access — and naked access — coming under scrutiny from the SEC, there are several theories emerging as to what are the best ways to manage the risk and compliance of high frequency trading firms gaining direct access to market centers.
Continue reading "Wedbush's Bell On Sponsored Access: Put the Risk Controls Everywhere..."Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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A Day in the Life of a NYMEX Trader
August 26, 2009 @ 09:58 PM | By Kerry MassaroEvery wonder what it's like to be a NYMEX Trader? CNN's Richard Quest, spent the day with trader Ray Carbone, to find out.
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SmartPool Eyes Mid-Cap Securities as Dark Trading Grows in Europe
August 18, 2009 @ 11:21 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenYesterday, SmartPool said that its dark liquidity pool created by NYSE Euronext with partners HSBC, J.P. Morgan and BNP Paribas, would expand into trading mid-cap securities by September. I caught up with Lee Hodgkinson, CEO of SmartPool, to understand the significance of this new development, recent volume trends and other items on his agenda.
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Debating the Value of High Frequency Trading
August 10, 2009 @ 07:09 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenLast week’s decision by Nasdaq Stock Market and BATS Exchange to suspend the controversial practice of flash orders has caused some of the media and political hysteria to die down. But there is still quite a bit of confusion as to how these flash orders fit into the broader topic of high-frequency trading, and there is debate on whether this form of rapid-fire, in-and-out trading adds value to the equity markets.
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Senator Schumer Calls for Ban on "Flash Orders"
July 28, 2009 @ 11:14 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenNew York Senator Charles Schumer is weighing in on the use of flash orders by high frequency traders, and even asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to ban the practice. If Schumer gets his way, so-called “flash orders” could soon be a flash in the pan!
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Commodities Portal Shines Light Into OTC Derivatives Darkness
July 23, 2009 @ 11:37 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenWith the government pressing for more transparency into OTC derivatives, it was interesting to learn that OTC energy markets are also fragmented and that participants are hunting for information in the dark.
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Goldman Sachs' Head Turning Quarter
July 14, 2009 @ 11:33 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenDespite concerns over a theft of high frequency trading code last month that reportedly cost the firm millions of dollars, this had no effect on Goldman Sach's second quarter earnings. Goldman Sachs reported $13.76 billion in revenues for the second quarter of 2009, beating analysts’ expectations of $10.66 billion.
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Accused High Frequency Trading Programmer Is A Ballroom Dancer
July 09, 2009 @ 12:00 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenSerge Aleynikov, who was arrested and charged with stealing Goldman Sachs’source code for high frequency trading software, was a competitive ballroom dancer.
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Merkin’s Art Sale: Is It Too Murky?
July 02, 2009 @ 01:19 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenVictims of Bernard Madoff's securities fraud may see some payback from one of the feeder fund managers that helped fuel Madoff's global investment crime spree. New York money manager J. Ezra Merkin is selling his prized art collection of Mark Rothko paintings and Alberto Giametti sculptures, according to a report in the
The Wall Street Journal.
Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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SIFMA: Cost Cutting, A Double-Edged Sword?
June 25, 2009 @ 12:17 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenIn my conversations at SIFMA I deliberately asked vendors and consultants how they were helping their clients in brokerage and asset management to cut costs and do more with less.
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Vanity Fair, Madoff and the Wall Street & Tech Connection
June 10, 2009 @ 04:20 PM | By Cristina McEachern GibbsIt’s not very often that I read my Vanity Fair and personally recognize a name or even know anyone quoted in the articles. The actors and famous types, of course, but not so much anyone in my circle.
But this past weekend as I hunkered down to read about cover guy Johnny Depp and then the Madoff sons I came across a very familiar name.
The article, “Did the Madoff Sons Know?” in the July issue explored whether or not Mark and Andrew Madoff might or might not have known about their fathers Ponzi scheme.
In the piece there was an attribution to Wall Street & Technology and specifically Anthony Guerra’s article featuring the Madoff family operation back in July of 2000.
Wall Street & Technology is Advanced Trading’s sister publication and at the time the article was published myself, Kerry Massaro (now Editor-in-Chief at AT) and Anthony were all working together.
And of course at the time Bernie Madoff was a revered Wall Street titan. Back then Madoff may have been featured in any number of financial publications but today he is featured in even more. From Vanity Fair to Golf Magazine, no magazine can ignore the salacious tale of Bernie and his Ponzi scheme.
Reading the Vanity Fair article it seemed to hint that the Madoff sons had to at least suspect something was up but might have left it at that as they were so ensconced in a certain lifestyle their family and business had created.
Then reading the WS&T article, entitled, “The Madoff Dynasty,” which focused on the family angle to the business it paints a very different picture of the Madoff's in the days before Bernie's scheme became public.
And it makes me wonder if others did really know what was going on behind the scenes. Guerra even points out in the first paragraph that Ruth, “helped with some bookkeeping.”
And Mark said of Bernie and the family in the article, "All of his family members grew up with this being our lives. When it is a family operated business you don't go home at night and shut everything off, so you take things home with you, which is how all of us grew up.”
I guess we may never find out how much or little the sons or Ruth for that matter knew but looking back and reading interviews with Bernie and the Madoff family does provide some interesting fodder.
In the days before the public knew something was amiss it seemed the family was quite close and would potentially know a lot about each other’s business. Now of course that is not the case.
Continue reading "Vanity Fair, Madoff and the Wall Street & Tech Connection..."Topics: fraud
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Liquidnet's Tie-Up with NYSE Euronext
June 10, 2009 @ 11:27 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenA new partnership between Liquidnet and NYSE Euronext announced earlier this week promises to connect corporate issuers with institutional investors and make their interactions more efficient through technology.
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SEC's Agenda: Sponsored Access, Dark Pools, etc.
May 28, 2009 @ 11:04 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenAt last week’s SIFMA’s Market Structure Conference, James Brigagliano, co-acting director, division of trading and markets at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ticked off a list of concerns on his mind. In the coming months, the SEC will be examining a number of issues, including, sponsored access, dark pools and pre-trade order and quote messages.
Continue reading "SEC's Agenda: Sponsored Access, Dark Pools, etc...."Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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What Hedge Funds Can Expect From The New Regulations
May 19, 2009 @ 12:01 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenHedge funds are bracing for more regulation from the Obama Administration, which is seeking more dislosure on relationships with counterparties to prevent systemic risk.But rather than sit on the sidelines and wait for the new rules, one industry consultant urges alternative asset managers to prepare for more reporting requirements.
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Will Geithner Mandate CDS Trading on Exchanges?
May 14, 2009 @ 11:26 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenYesterday,Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner signaled that regulators would mandate more transparency into OTC derivatives products and force trading of credit default swaps onto exchanges.
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Early Madoff Feeder Appears On PBS Frontline
May 12, 2009 @ 11:06 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenTonight, PBS Frontline will air “The Madoff Affair”, an investigative news piece, which promises to get behind the world’s first global Ponzi scheme. While Madoff sits in jail awaiting sentence in June, the media is still trying to figure out how the fraudster perpetuated the scheme for decades.
Continue reading "Early Madoff Feeder Appears On PBS Frontline..."Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Less Money to Pay for Independent Research?
May 07, 2009 @ 11:31 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenA few years ago, experts were predicting that sell-side research was near death, while independent research was undergoing a rebirth. Fast-forward to the present time in which a number of economic forces are weighing on the institutional investors and hedge funds, making it harder for them to allocate commission dollars (or cash) to pay for independent research.
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Is the Buy-Side Risk Function Losing Status?
April 30, 2009 @ 11:25 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenAre buy-side institutions paying enough attention to risk management in light of the ongoing financial crisis? A recent study of 90 investment management organizations raises some alarm bells.
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T3 Live.com: Prop Traders Go Virtual
April 28, 2009 @ 11:00 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenWith all the talk about social networks, it’s not surprising that traders want to interact and learn from each other. Proprietary trading firm T3 Capital launched an online trading community that reaches out to active traders and shares its positions with subscribers.
Continue reading "T3 Live.com: Prop Traders Go Virtual..."Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Will Turquoise Survive the Heated Battle?
April 16, 2009 @ 11:43 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenThe battle for market share has been escalating in the European equity trading landscape and now there are predictions that not all the multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) will survive.
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Should European Dark Pools Offer Better Prices?
April 14, 2009 @ 12:23 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenToday, NYFIX Euro Millennium MTF platform will temporarily amend its algorithm to offer matching at the midpoint of the reference market price. The move raises questions about whether European dark pools can offer better prices than lit markets.
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Westwater Ramps Up Risk Practice with FOF Due Diligence
April 08, 2009 @ 11:23 AM | By Kerry MassaroI just spoke with Jim Leman, principal of Westwater Corp., about some of the things his firm is focusing on as a result of the credit crisis and recent market turmoil. We hadn’t caught up in a while and I wanted to know how the market was affecting his consulting firm.
According to Leman, Westwater has found several opportunities amid the turmoil on Wall Street. First, it has been able to take advantage of some good Wall Street talent that suddenly has become available. The firm hired Peter Jenkins, the former business development manager with the member and institutional community at NYSE. Prior to that Jenkins was the head trader at Scudder Stevens and Deutsche Asset Management. He will be lending his expertise to Westwater’s buy-side and sell-side business development efforts, Leman says.
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Fidessa's Fragmentation Index: Worth Watching
April 01, 2009 @ 11:42 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenFragmentation is a hot topic in Europe these days.
Volumes have been shifting around since the Markets In Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) went into effect in November of 2007 and there has been an explosion in the number of new trading venues called multilateral trading facilities or MTFs to compete with the traditional exchanges.
Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Madoff's Prison Number Wins NY Lottery
March 25, 2009 @ 11:12 AM | By Kerry MassaroAt least someone--other than the conman himself--- actually made money "investing in Madoff." The Daily News reported yesterday that a Queens construction worker used the swindler's prison number to play the lottery and won $1,500.
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Treasury Lacks Staff and Software To Run Toxic Asset Plan
March 24, 2009 @ 01:46 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenThe U.S. Treasury’s unveiling of its toxic asset plan sent the stock market soaring yesterday as the government laid out its plan for selling off bad loans and other types of debt to unclog the credit markets.
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Madoff Accountant Arrested
March 19, 2009 @ 02:27 PM | By Cristina McEachern GibbsIt was only a matter of time before more people involved in the Bernard Madoff Investment Securities fraud would come out of the woodwork and now the dominoes might begin to fall.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors charged David Friehling, the accountant who audited Madoff’s firm, with fraud.
Friehling was the only auditor at the firm of Friehling & Horowitz, which the government says was responsible for auditing Madoff’s firm beginning in 1991.
According to a statement released by the Department of Justice, Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dessin, said, "Mr. Friehling is charged with crimes that represent a serious breach of the investing public's trust.”
He added, "Although Mr. Friehling is not charged with knowledge of the Madoff Ponzi scheme, he is charged with deceiving investors by falsely certifying that he audited the financial statements of Mr. Madoff's business. Mr. Friehling's deception helped foster the illusion that Mr. Madoff legitimately invested his clients' money."
The charges against Friehling include securities fraud, aiding and abetting investment advisor fraud and filing false audit reports with the SEC. If convinced Friehling could fact a maximum sentence of 105 years in prison.
According to the DoJ statement, Madoff’s firm paid Friehling between $12000 and $14500 per month for his services between 2004 and 2007.
This week the also saw the government’s intent to actively go after the assets of Madoff’s sons and wife.
According to a government filing on Tuesday, Madoff loaned sons Andrew and Mark more than $30 million since 2004. Reports say that the last of the loans – to Andrew for $4.3 million - occurred in October of 2008, two months before Madoff’s arrest.
Prosecutors have also indicated they are looking to seize Ruth Madoff’s jewelry collection which is valued at $2.6 million.
Continue reading "Madoff Accountant Arrested..."Topics: Regulations
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Spitzer Weighs In on A.I.G.'s Payments to Trading Counterparties
March 19, 2009 @ 11:54 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenAlong with the firestorm that has erupted over American International Group’s bonus payments to employees, former disgraced New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer spoke out against A.I.G. paying billions to its trading counterparties.
Continue reading "Spitzer Weighs In on A.I.G.'s Payments to Trading Counterparties..."Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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The Morning Madoff Frenzy
March 12, 2009 @ 02:44 PM | By Cristina McEachern GibbsIt was obviously just speculation, but as soon as I got in this morning I started reading the blogs and news reports predicting the outcome of Madoff’s day in court. We've all been waiting for this right?
One was particularly foreboding - pointing out that Madoff entered the courthouse today without his usual jacket or overcoat. It was chilly this morning and so maybe Madoff knew his fate? Maybe he knew he was going to jail today and would not need a coat from here on out.
But then the blogs and preliminary hearing speculation also reported that there was no plea bargain arrangement with prosecutors in place. This guilty plea did not come with any stipulation that he cooperate with authorities or help in naming any co-conspirators. Interesting.
As the hearing got underway, the news flurry began with stories being updated and changed by the minute. Bernard Madoff has officially plead guilty to 11 charges relating to his $65 billion Ponzi scheme in U.S. District Court.
During the hearing today Madoff read from his 6-page plea allocution, which can be viewed in its entirety here.
Apparently there was applause. But still there was so much more that we all want to know.
This was the first time Madoff has spoken publicly about his crime since his arrest in December and although he did share some interesting details about his fraud, so many questions still remain.
We still don’t know who else, if anyone was involved, how they were involved and where exactly the money went. There is even still some discrepancy between how much the authorities think Madoff scammed and how much Madoff thinks he scammed.
But we do know that Madoff was lead away in handcuffs and will be in jail as he awaits sentencing on June 16th, most likely at the Manhattan Correctional Center according to published reports. But he may later be moved to another facility such as the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York.
I’m sure there will be more details to come and only time will tell the full depth of Madoff’s scheme and how it played out.
Continue reading "The Morning Madoff Frenzy ..."Topics: Regulations
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Madoff's Guilty Plea: Did He Reveal Accomplices?
March 12, 2009 @ 11:22 AM | By Ivy SchmerkenBernard Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 criminal charges today in a Manhattan Federal Courthouse, in what is said to be the biggest Ponzi scheme is U.S. history. But will Madoff shed light on how he carried out the investment scam, who helped him and will he walk out a free man?
Continue reading "Madoff's Guilty Plea: Did He Reveal Accomplices?..."Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Buzz On CCA Consortium Platforms: Announcement Imminent
March 05, 2009 @ 12:12 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenOnce again there is buzz about a consortium of bulge-bracket brokers bringing out a consolidated platform for client commission agreements (CCAs). This week Integrity Research’s blog reported that a broker consortium is only weeks away from announcing a consolidated commission platform.
Continue reading "Buzz On CCA Consortium Platforms: Announcement Imminent..."Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Did 20/20 Invade Madoff's Privacy?
February 25, 2009 @ 01:09 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenFriday night, ABC’s 20/20 aired an investigative report on Bernard Madoff that showed the former financier under house arrest in his luxurious apartment working on his Apple Macintosh computer and drinking a beer. At one point, Madoff gets up to fluff his pillows.
Continue reading "Did 20/20 Invade Madoff's Privacy?..."Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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The Curious Case of J. Ezra Merkin
February 16, 2009 @ 11:12 PM | By Ivy SchmerkenCourt papers filed by New York University against New York money manager J. Ezra Merkin reveal that Merkin, who invested $2 billion with Bernard Madoff, was taking investment advice from a convicted felon.
Continue reading "The Curious Case of J. Ezra Merkin..."Topics: Ivy Schmerken : fraud : people
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