When Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme was discovered more than a decade ago, it was a kick in the gut to the advisory industry. With faith in financial advisors and the markets already at a low because of the Great Recession, news of Madoff's $19 billion fraud just exacerbated clients' angst toward advisors. WealthManagement.com (then Registered Rep.) and Trusts & Estates covered the news of Madoff's Ponzi scheme and the fallout—still being felt today. Here, you will find some of our archival pieces covering Madoff's legacy.
Madoff died in federal prison, where he was serving a 150-year term for defrauding clients of more than $19 billion in the largest Ponzi scheme in history.
A series of court rulings have favored investors who profited from the scam, and provided a cheat sheet for how to hold on to suspiciously robust returns.
2009 was a sobering year for Wall Street, in many more ways than one. But for a tiny minority, the financial losses wrought by the careening market were nothing short of unbearable.
Call it the “Madoff Effect.” In the wake of the scandalous news reports about Bernard Madoff, once revered as a pioneer of electronic trading and a pillar of the community for his philanthropic largess, many financial advisors say clients are approaching them with greater suspicion.
If Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff serves no other purpose, he's a stark reminder that anyone acting in a fiduciary capacity must maintain high standards of ethical conduct in all dealings with customers and clients.
Surprise exams and reviews by third party accountants: These are the new measures the SEC proposed on Thursday to combat Ponzi schemes like the one Bernie Madoff pulled off.
