What we have here is a failure to regulate

Yet another epic failure by the CEO President…

The Securities and Exchange Commission learned about what it describes as one of the largest securities frauds in history when Bernard L. Madoff volunteered his confession, raising questions about the agency's ability to police the financial marketplace.

The SEC had the authority to investigate Madoff's investment business, which managed billions of dollars for wealthy investors and philanthropies. Financial analysts raised concerns about Madoff's practices repeatedly over the past decade, including a 1999 letter to the SEC that accused Madoff of running a Ponzi scheme. But the agency did not conduct even a routine examination of the investment business until last week.

Look, if the SEC is incapable of ferreting out the largest ever case of fraud (by an order of magnitude), then the SEC needs a top to bottom overhaul. Investigation and enforcement of regulations helps insure fairness in the market and investor confidence. That this asshole could lose $50 billion and no one noticed until he confessed is an indictment of both our regulations and those that would enforce them. I know Pres.-elect Obama has a full plate already but let’s hope he appoints someone to chair the SEC that is not a Wall Street sycophant (see Cox, Chris).