Watchdog chief slams own agency over Madoff failures

A US financial watchdog chief said his agency repeatedly failed for at least a decade to pursue allegations of wrongdoing by Wall Street figure Bernard Madoff, the alleged perpetrator of a $50bn (€35.63bn) pyramid scheme.

Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Christopher Cox ordered an investigation by the SEC’s inspector general, saying the agency’s staff had never brought the Madoff matter to the attention of commissioners.