Back in January, U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) was recognized to speak at a House sub-committee hearing about the Madoff Ponzi scheme and the need for better regulatory oversight to prevent such fraud. He promptly lashed out at a witness from the Securities and Exchange Commission, stating: “I want to know who is responsible for protecting the securities investor, because I want to tell that person or those people whose job it is that they suck at it.”
While Ackerman’s rant drew publicity and attention and fixed the blame on the SEC for failing to uncover Bernard Madoff’s fraud sooner, the ...