Dem still incensed over SEC’s Madoff miss

While interrogating Robert Cook, the director of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, Sherman demanded a reason for why no one at the agency had taken any steps to uncover the Madoff Ponzi scheme before it broke in 2008.

“Who was it in your division that didn’t even spend an hour looking at Bernie Madoff’s financial statements?” Sherman asked.

“Another division was tasked with that —” Cook began.

“How much time was spent looking at Madoff’s filing? Even for half an hour?” Sherman pressed.

“A significant amount of time was spent in the aftermath to avoid any such mishap again —” Cook said.

“I’m not talking about the future. I’m talking about what happened back then,” Sherman interrupted. “Why was no one from the agency held accountable for this? Nobody was fired, nobody was penalized.

“There has been zero accountability here.”