Madoff whistleblower says SEC making improvements, but still plenty of work to be done

Madoff whistleblower softens criticism of SEC

BOSTON — A man who for years tried to warn federal financial regulators that Bernard Madoff was running a giant Ponzi scheme says the Securities and Exchange Commission is getting better at policing the industry, but needs to improve even more.

Harry Markopolos said at a business ethics conference at Suffolk University in Boston on Thursday that the SEC’s changes have been “evolutionary, not revolutionary.”

He said “it’s not good enough” and that Wall Street can’t police itself.

Markopolos, a private fraud investigator, tried to warn the SEC that Madoff’s investment strategies did not make sense, but his concerns went unheeded. After Madoff was exposed, Markopolos became highly critical of the SEC.

Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence for running the $65 billion scheme.